


Dusk Will Soon Dawn

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Additional characters and tags to be added later, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Gen, Light Angst, Some Humor, its first and foremost a pjo au, so it pretty much follows what you would expect of the books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 30,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14011833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “We’re screwed,” Baekhyun very helpfully supplies, planting his face in his hands. “Whoever can even mess with Zeus’s power must be pretty powerful, dude, how would us three puny demigods defeat them?!”“Thanks for the positivity broadcast,” says Jongdae, before ignoring Baekhyun altogether and turning back to Minseok.(Or the one where Minseok is Done™ with the other two's bullshit. But one's gotta do what one's gotta do.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #10
> 
> title taken from yoiyoi kokon (evenings in the past and present) by Reol! 
> 
> this is supposed to have 4 parts, but unfortunately I've only managed to write 2 within the time of the fest... but I def will be updating with the other 2 parts when I have the time for it! so I hope you'll stick around till then! in the meantime, I hope you enjoy what I have so far!
> 
> mega thanks to the mods for working so hard on hosting this fest, and for always being helpful and supportive and amazing through the whole thing! thanks to M, for being wonderful and reading over this, and for letting me bug her at random times of the day with fic talk, but always responding with great advice. lots of thanks to N and A too, for listening to all my rants about how much i hate writing, and metaphorically holding my hand through it. and especially to N (the same N) for giving me the best writing advice and helping me rewrite and edit the especially horrible scenes.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

The world for Baekhyun ends on a Tuesday. It ends with the sound of Rachel's high, almost screeching, voice pitching over the syllables of the prophecy. Time seems to slow down as he listens to word after dangerous word falling from her lips, and feels the weight of impending doom falling heavier over his chest.

Or that's how Baekhyun will tell what it felt like to hear the prophecy anyway. At the time, Baekhyun had no idea what the words meant, had no idea there was a countdown on his life laid down then. At the time, Baekhyun was as nonchalant as anyone without a prophecy and a quest could be.

But he did feel the weight of his impending doom snuffing out the breath out of his chest, a mere hour later, sitting in the council meeting room. It was Minseok's prophecy, but Jongdae and Baekhyun were there at the wrong place, wrong time, and heard it too, and were thus required to attend the meeting. The meeting in which Chiron slowly dissected the words of the prophecy and delivered the news that him and Jongdae would have to go on the quest too, and that it wasn't a mere coincidence they were there.

And so Baekhyun's world ends on a tuesday, frozen in a rickety chair, sitting across from Dionysus's slippered feet, propped up on the table as he dozes. He doesn't even have it in him to face Jongdae's similar expression of shock. It was no secret within the camp that, despite their impressive parentage, a child of Apollo and Zeus respectively, Baekhyun and Jongdae are among those who would be lucky to never go on a quest, or they wouldn't make it to the age of twenty.

Silence overtakes the table for a whole minute, nothing but Dionysus's snores filling the air, before protests start erupting all around. Loudest of them are Minseok's, making it very clear he does not want to go on a quest with the duo. Baekhyun sympathizes. He wouldn't want to go on a quest with himself either.

"This is not a quest, this is a suicide mission!" Minseok protests.

Chiron sighs loudly. "This is not the worst quest you've been on," he tries to placate. "Even if that were the case, you can't go against the prophecy. You simply will have to do it.”

It was a known fact that Minseok was a token Boreas child, rivaling even children of Athena and Ares on the number of quests they’ve been on. He was one of Chiron’s favorite campers, and a favorite among campers too, reverent gossip surrounding almost his every footstep. Baekhyun feels simultaneously bad for him, and assured that at least there’s a sliver of hope they may survive with Minseok with them.

“Wait a minute, not the worst I've been on,” he pauses to consider something, “true, but at the time I hadn't gone with a pair of —"

ouch. Baekhyun tunes out of the conversation. He didn't even need Minseok to finish that sentence for it to hurt. Baekhyun doesn’t have to think too much to know how it would've ended anyway.

There is a reason Baekhyun avoids council meetings, hiding behind his more competent siblings, and this is exactly it.

He looks over at Jongdae, to find his expression entirely closed off and unreadable. Baekhyun winces. He isn’t the only one hurt. 

Baekhyun watches Chiron drop his head into his hands, braced up on the table, and feels the hopelessness almost palpable in the room, reflected on every single face with the exception of Dionysus's sleeping one.

Even then, Minseok doesn't give up, backpedaling from his last exclamation and changing tactics.

Minseok leans forward in his seat as his words get louder. Essentially, he was just arguing with himself, starting and stopping his sentences.

"The prophecy might not be deciphered correctly, it could mean someone else. It doesn't make sense,” he pauses, an almost haunted look on his face. “Them. They are the prophecy?!”

"Let's be rational about this. The prophecy was to aid the quest, and this is not aiding in the least,” he tries instead when he gets another firm refutation from Chiron. "What are the consequences of ignoring the prophecy, it can't be worse than actually going on the quest!”.

"I can't take responsibility for this! I can't lead the three of us to our deaths!” Exclaims Minseok with a desperation in his voice.

Their back and forth continues.

Baekhyun feels his heart sink lower in his chest with each rebuttal from Chiron, though it had already sunk pretty deep with every careless word from Minseok.

Not long after, Jongdae joins in on the protests too, their voices getting a loud cacophony as everyone gets more desperate and despaired.

Baekhyun wants to join as well, but the words are stuck in his throat. What could he say? Thinking to all he is;

"I can barely lift a sword, please don't let me die young.” He could plead.

"I've seen a total of two monsters in my life and I've barely survived those, how can I face more?” He could explain uselessly.

"I'm actually a mortal in disguise, I was not cut out for this demigod life.” He could try.

"I'm only good at talking and causing trouble, not being a hero on a quest.” He could remind.

Nothing would help; so Baekhyun keeps his words to himself and watches as hurtful words tumble from all sides, as he sinks deeper in his chair.

"this isn't any normal quest!" Chiron thunders when he's done with the arguing duo. "The oracle has spoken, it has to be the three of you!"

Minseok seems to visibly swallow his words, as he kicks his chair back and storms outside. Jongdae's voice trails over mid-sentence and he looks over at Baekhyun. Baekhyun finds something in his face that he thinks he never wants to see on Jongdae's face again.

Chiron sighs. "We haven't properly discussed the quest and the prophecy. I want the three of you back here in two hours. I'll send for someone to tell Minseok."

Jongdae looks like he has something to say to that, but holds back. He just sighs and pushes his chair back, quietly leaving without a word. Baekhyun watches Chiron's face change from anger to sympathy but doesn't linger, hurrying after Jongdae instead. He hears a groggy "what happened?" Behind him as he crosses the threshold, but he doesn't look back.

When he leaves the big house, Jongdae is nowhere to be found, even though Baekhyun was mere seconds behind him. He sighs. Jongdae probably needed to sort through his thoughts alone.

Which he should too. Except that's extremely unlike Baekhyun. There's nothing to sort through anyway. Everything's fine, it's all going to be okay. There's no problem at all. Everyone goes on quests and most come back alive. Which they will too. The prophecy even hints at no deaths. They're going to be fine.

With that resolve, he heads to his cabin to get ready.

~

All in all, Baekhyun blames the Athena kids.

It had started with a game of capture the flag. Usually during these games, Baekhyun and Jongdae choose to sit out the game at best, or meddle with playing campers at worst. The amount of time they spent in jail far outweighs the time they spent with a sword, or bow and arrow in Baekhyun's case, in hand. Everyone knows better than to include the duo in any actual plans, more than aware of their tendency to meddle, their lack of skills with any actual weapon, and Jongdae's volatile power to top it off.

But that was before Jongdae ended up on a team with not only the Ares cabin, but the Athena cabin too, who thought it would be a great plan if he were the one to capture the flag. And okay, Baekhyun's gotta admit, it was a good plan to start since no one paid Jongdae any mind till he had literally snuck past all the fighting at the defenses and had the flag in his hands, no one expecting him to actually join the games. But still, the Athena kids are dumb, Baekhyun and Jongdae agree.

Baekhyun himself had been looking for Jongdae since the game started, bummed that they were on different teams for once, and unable to find him in the fray of fighting campers. He only noticed him when, amidst the chaos of campers fighting under the tree where the flag was, someone yelled, "the flag!"

And that's when Baekhyun recognized Jongdae's alarmed figure high on the branches of the tree, his eyes widened into saucers, and what can only be a litany of curses subsequently leaving his lips as he more frantically tried to reach for the flag that was just an inch too high.

Baekhyun didn't waste time in immediately running to Jongdae, bellowing, "how you'd get up there?"

The closer he got, the more Baekhyun could make out the stream of "fuck, fuck, fuck," leaving Jongdae's lips as he tried to reach the flag while balancing precariously on the branch.

Seemingly in one last ditch effort, Jongdae stood up on the branch he was sitting on, in an attempt to reach the flag. And although he managed to finally catch it, he also came tumbling down the moment he had it in his hand. Which was also the moment Baekhyun made it under the tree.

Baekhyun felt a groan leaving his mouth once he registered his surroundings again, which at that moment, were mostly Jongdae who'd fallen on him. There was a jarring pain in his back where it was pressed down against the hard forest floor. He didn't get to register much more, though, before he felt his world shifting around him. A blur of dark disorienting colors, his stomach pulling tightly, and he was pushing Jongdae from above him and scrambling to his knees to puke his breakfast out, the sound of matching groans reverberating around him.

"A warning would've been nice!" Baekhyun yelled, once he was sure he wasn't in danger of puking anymore. He sat back down to notice Kyungsoo lying down a few feet away. Baekhyun had only tried shadow travelling with Kyungsoo a total of one (1) time before, and it hadn't been a nice experience then either. Whereas before he was in a more dry area of the forest, more rocks and mounds than greens, there’s grass here, soft under his fingers. And, well, covered in puke. Baekhyun winces.

"Damn, you're both heavy," Kyungsoo only mumbled in reply, as he got to his feet, still panting violently. Kyungsoo took a moment to right himself, breaths still coming out in short puffs, before he declared he's out.

"We've got the flag, and that was more than I ever even wanted to do," he muttered in explanation as he turned his back on them. Kyungsoo didn’t usually actively play the games either, prefering to either have a minor role or sit the game out with Baekhyun and Jongdae.

Jongdae shouted incredulously at his back that he didn't want to do it either, but Kyungsoo was already gone, and didn’t turn back no matter how much Jongdae called after him.

Baekhyun watched Jongdae sigh and stare down at the flag in his hand.

"I can't believe you actually got the flag," Baekhyun voiced, crawling closer. Jongdae looked up at him, and raised the flag higher triumphantly.

"I guess I did." Jongdae grinned.

"What are you gonna do with it now?" Baekhyun could a feel a sense of excitement bubbling up, reflected in Jongdae’s eyes.

"well, return it, I suppose, but Kyungsoo ditched,” said Jongdae, pouting.

"Oh, we're actually playing for once." Jongdae looked up sharply at that. Baekhyun knew there was transparent mischief in his eyes, and he reveled in the way Jongdae looked instantly alarmed.

"Oh, no." They were on different teams for this round.

"Oh, yes." Baekhyun grinned.

Jongdae didn’t waste time in getting his feet under him and running in the opposite direction, kicking up dirt into Baekhyun's face and throwing an expletive over his shoulder. Baekhyun spluttered and hurried after him, his own expletives leaving his lips.

They kicked up dust and dirt in their wake, stepping into fallen leaves and running into low tree branches. There were tiny tendrils of electricity where Jongdae steps, sticking to his shoes. Suffice to say; they were very easy to spot. Baekhyun was sure they’re going to be found in no time.

No more than two minutes into the chase, they ran into Kyungsoo, quite literally. A startled yelp leaving Kyungsoo's and Jongdae's mouths as the latter tried to avoid maiming Kyungsoo with the flag, barely catching himself before he fell into him. Kyungsoo wasn’t as lucky, falling down on his butt and staring wide-eyed at Jongdae. Jongdae didn’t waste much time in running away, a hurried "sorry, Soo," thrown over his shoulder.

Baekhyun followed suit and almost tripped over Kyungsoo's feet, but managed to catch himself just in time — albeit less gracefully than Jongdae, kicking up a storm of dirt around him.

"Sorry, Kyungsoo," he sheepishly said and tried to cautiously edge away under Kyungsoo's glare. He broke into a run at the first sign of Kyungsoo getting up to pursue.

"Sorry!" He yelled over his shoulder and looked for Jongdae. He couldn’t see him anymore but he could hear his receding footsteps in the direction of the river. He hurried after him, loudly calling for his name.

He managed to catch Jongdae just as he was standing less than half a meter away from the edge. There were still sparks flying around his shoes, and now his hands too. Baekhyun could spot even tinier ones circling his torso and chest; he wouldn't be able to cross the river safely, like he needed to for his team to win, until all the adrenaline went down. Baekhyun smirked.

"I swear to the gods, Baekhyun, if you take one more step, I'm just gonna jump in," Jongdae threatened, taking the tiniest of steps back.

Baekhyun could now spot several naiads warily peeking out of the water at Jongdae.

Baekhyun lifted one foot off the ground as he taunted Jongdae. "Will you really?"

Jongdae mimicked Baekhyun, lifting one foot off the ground. "I will really."

Before either of them got the chance to take the step, all hell broke loose. Several campers broke through the tree line, heading straight for Jongdae. Jongdae's eyes widened and he immediately ran along the river line, Baekhyun following behind.

This alarms the naiads, Baekhyun realized, when he felt a sudden torrent of water drenching the two of them. Three naiads came out to push a disoriented and stumbling Baekhyun away, one brave naiad came to push Jongdae. Baekhyun could hear the naiad crying in pain as soon as she touched Jongdae. He tried to look over, through the aggressive hands on his skin, and saw Jongdae stumbling and falling, barely managing not to take out his own eye with the flag still clutched in his hands.

The naiads around Baekhyun only let him be when he was far enough from the river, standing a few feet away from where Jongdae still lay on the ground. With the water too, Baekhyun noticed the electricity around Jongdae's body wasn’t a mere few sparks anymore, the currents magnifying as they ran through the water. There was a pool of electricity around Jongdae, the water almost writhing where it lay.

Baekhyun watched Jongdae get back to his feet and do a weird dance as he ran to try and get all the water off. Baekhyun looked over to the naiads, wondering whether he would be drenched again if he followed Jongdae, but found them occupied with pushing the other campers who’d broken through the tree line away. There was almost what can be considered a line of defense between where he and Jongdae stood and where the other campers stood.

Baekhyun followed Jongdae, who hadn’t noticed him yet, further away from the fighting but close enough to the river that they were still in the naiad's — unintended — protection. He watched as Jongdae slowed his brisk walk, almost stopping, and did what Baekhyun recognized as the breathing exercises Chiron taught him, that he’s seen Jongdae do many times.

Jongdae had his electricity back down to faint sparks covering his arms, even with the water covering him, instead of the raging mini storm he had before, when his concentration was broken with a call of his name and a heavy weight falling on him. He barely let out a yelp before he was face planting in dirt.

"Gotchu!" Baekhyun cried from above. Jongdae immediately struggled to get the flag under his body, wrist twisted awkwardly under his weight.

"in your dreams!" He yelled into the dirt and immediately sputtered at it getting into his mouth.

It was a ruthless tickle fight from there, Jongdae squirming under Baekhyun's weight as he reached for all of Jongdae's weak spots. Trying to push Baekhyun off of him proved useless when he could barely get control of his body under Baekhyun's relentless fingers and his own electricity spiking sporadically.

A moment later, Baekhyun fell off of him with a yelp at a particularly vicious spark of electricity, cradling his hand to his chest. Jongdae immediately took the chance to get back up, crowing "what a loser," at Baekhyun, and fled.

Baekhyun rolled around in a vain attempt of chase after Jongdae, when he noticed the onslaught of campers who had broken through the naiad defense line, coming right from the direction Jongdae is running to.

And it seemed Jongdae noticed them too, fleeing back in Baekhyun's direction with an almost scream, not once looking back at the horde of campers now chasing after him.

Only he didn’t get far, as Baekhyun tackled him back to the ground.

"Not the time, byun!" Jongdae screamed as he squabbleed to free himself. Baekhyun only held on tighter, a grin on his face.

Baekhyun had a tight grip on the back of both of Jongdae’s legs as he struggled to inch away from the oncoming campers. Baekhyun was trying to get a better grip on Jongdae, but Jongdae was squirming too much; they were both making so little progress in their separate goals.

Jongdae stopped squirming for a second, attempting instead to blindly bat at Baekhyun with the flag in his hand. Baekhyun let out an involuntary yelp when Jongdae managed to land a hit, but didn’t waste time in getting back on his back.

"Fuck off!" Jongdae yelled as he attempted to twist around so Baekhyun was the one on the ground, all the while whacking at Baekhyun with his flag.

There were pained yelps from both of them as they tangle together, elbows and flag digging in uncomfortable places, while they blindly rolled through the dirt. Baekhyun was sure his lip was bleeding, though he wasn’t entirely sure what split it.

Jongdae managed to somehow get Baekhyun under him, Baekhyun's chest to his back, while Baekhyun blindly flailed around reaching for any part of Jongdae he can hit. Jongdae reached for one of his flailing arms and bit down. Baekhyun screamed and his other hand tightened around Jongdae's stomach, nails digging painfully into his torso.

"I'm not letting you go, you fucker!"

With one last surge of energy, Baekhyun pushed Jongdae off of him. But his eyes widened a moment later when he noticed Jongdae rolling away right into what looked like a giant wall of water, forcefully coming to a halt as the water came in torrents over him, his figure almost disappearing from view. Baekhyun noticed then the alarmed naiads around the mysterious wall of water, and noticed the campers on the other side of it. Baekhyun connected the dots, figuring the wall was to stop the campers getting too close to Jongdae or the river, but it had the opposite effect.

Baekhyun wasted no time in running straight at the water, where the naiads were working to draw the water back away from Jongdae. Baekhyun thought it was a miracle the giant body of water hadn’t already turned into writhing electricity as it had done before. But as he got to Jongdae, finding him sputtering and coughing on the ground, he noticed there were barely any sparks on him at all. He didn’t waste much thought on it though, prioritizing checking on Jongdae instead.

Baekhyun continuously called Jongdae’s name as he tried shaking him back into consciousness. He kept coughing and making all these pained noises with his eyes closed, and frankly, it was starting to worry Baekhyun.

"i'm sorry, you idiot!" Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he was even saying anymore, just that there was an unsteady worried stream of words leaving his lips. Baekhyun noticed Jongdae give a violent cough as he blinked his eyes open, disorientedly.

"Damn naiads!" Baekhyun cursed, as his shaking hands got less frantic around Jongdae’s body, instead gently holding onto his shoulders to slowly help him sit up. There was a spark of electricity starting to build around Jongdae’s figure now that he was gaining consciousness, clinging to the water surrounding the both of them. Baekhyun swallowed a yelp at the stinging in his fingers.

"You should've been careful, so close to the river," Baekhyun reprimanded through the crease of worry on his forehead, as he patted Jongdae's back.

"How is it my fault!" Jongdae said, but a series of painful looking coughs left his throat immediately after. He glared at Baekhyun instead. Baekhyun noticed Jongdae’s head almost spinning like it was weightless, and his eyes roaming in the space around Baekhyun. Now Baekhyun was no doctor, but the crease of worry tightened around his forehead.

“you okay, buddy?” He asked softly.

“will be, once I figure out which one of the Baekhyun’s i’m seeing is really you,” Jongdae tried to joke, a half smile on his lips, though his voice sounded raw. Baekhyun frowned.

Then Jongdae’s eyes widened suddenly, and he started wildly looking around himself. Baekhyun’s hands tightened around his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Flag!” Jongdae said. Baekhyun eyes widened too, and he started looking around the both of them without leaving Jongdae's side, hands lingering on his shoulder.

"Oh!" He exclaimed a moment later. "There!"

Jongdae looked in the direction Baekhyun was pointing, to find angry glaring naiads swimming away with the flag. His eyes widened. "Fuck."

Baekhyun looked around him to find the campers still fighting. He nervously got to his feet, immediately helping Jongdae up too, and together they hobbled away from the fray, in silent agreement that it was best to sneak away unnoticed.

"oops," Jongdae winced as they both inch their way back to the forest before anyone spotted them.

A distinct “there!” In chanyeol’s booming voice behind them had them breaking into a run, Baekhyun a few steps behind Jongdae just in case.

"where's Kyungsoo when you need him!" Jongdae panted through his weird hobble-run hybrid.

There was the echoing sound of footsteps across the forest floor behind them, but Baekhyun and Jongdae broke into sudden lefts and rights in an attempt to lose their followers.

Baekhyun had leaves stuck in his hair, and he was sure his hands were scrapped from all the low branches he pushed through. But the footsteps were almost too faint to discern behind them, so he thought it was worth it.

They managed to break out of the forest mostly intact. Baekhyun chanced a look behind him, but the forest floor almost looked peaceful. He couldn’t hear any commotion coming from the trees either. He let out a sigh of relief.

“where should we go?” Jongdae asked, as they aimlessly walk.

“where they expect us not to go?”

Jongdae shrugged. “I don’t know? The big house?”

“Chiron is there, isn’t he?” Baekhyun asked. “Yeah, let’s go hide with Chiron, they definitely won’t expect that.”

Except.

Well.

Out of the pan, and straight into the fire.

They snuck past the huge double doors, gently holding the door open and closing so it doesn’t make a lot of noise, and slowly walk into the house. But they didn’t manage to sneak far before they were met with an open door they couldn’t sneak past. Baekhyun quietly looked at Jongdae, a question written all over his face. _Why was there someone in the counsel meeting room?_

Jongdae only shrugged in reply. Baekhyun could hear voices from inside, and after a little listening he discerned them as Chiron’s and Minseok’s. He looked over to Jongdae to find a similar of confusion on his face.

“Wasn’t Minseok in the games?” Baekhyun whispered. Minseok was known as one of the campers who excel with any weapon he touched. Add in his complete control over his ice powers, gifted to him through his father, boreas, god of the north wind, and he was immediately almost as well prized a camper as a child of the twelve. Or, well, more prized, in Baekhyun’s and Jongdae’s cases. He was one of the campers with an impressive number of quests under his belt, almost always coming back triumphant. Really a god among men, from Baekhyun’s view, who could barely lift a sword without maiming himself. And rightly, he was more often than not on the winning team during the capture the flag games, never missing one.

“I don’t know, I didn’t see him.”

Baekhyun turned his head back and tried to listen.

"How about the kidnapper? Do we know much about them?" Baekhyun could hear in Minseok's voice.

“I'm afraid not much," answered Chiron. "We do know a lot more about the child."

There was a pause in conversation then, and some shuffling.

"However, I would rather confirm it all with the prophecy first since it's all rather hypothetical," continued Chiron.

"How come? Hadn't we gotten the information from Zeus?"

Baekhyun's eyes widened, immediately exchanging a look of surprise with Jongdae.

"Oh, Zeus knows who the child is, but he is not sure of what the child has become."

There was a low humming Baekhyun discerned as Minseok's.

“I do hope the prophecy names good campers to take on the quest with me," mused Minseok.

"Who would you rather it name?"

There was another pause then, which Baekhyun guessed was Minseok thinking.

"Junmyeon?" Junmyeon was a child of athena who had been on a few quests alongside Minseok himself. "Or maybe Chanyeol?" A child of hephaestus, known for his affinity to create all sorts of weapons, all made of celestial bronze.

Before Baekhyun could hear much more, he felt a looming shadow pass over him. He looked over to find Rachel standing over him and Jongdae.

"What are the two of you doing here?" She said, voice loud enough to draw the attention of the people in the room. Baekhyun felt a moment of dread wash over him at being caught, as he heard the distinct sound of Minseok's approaching footsteps and Chiron's hooves, before he saw Rachel's eyes rolling back in her head and her body falling weightlessly. He and Jongdae scrambled to catch her, a confused yelp leaving Baekhyun's mouth, as they sat her down against the wall.

"what are you doing here?" He heard Minseok hiss from above him, but his voice is soon drowned out. Rachel opened her eyes, which were now glowing a faint green in the dark of the big house, and as she opened her mouth, emerald smoke easily passed between her lips, clouding Baekhyun's face for a moment before he backs away.

The voice that left her mouth sounded raspy, ancient, and sent a chill through Baekhyun's spine. It was not the first prophecy he heard Rachel recite, but it was the first where he was so close to her.

"North winds enchanted off their paths, look east.  
In the folds of the ocean, storms brew amongst feasts.  
A veil as dark as night;  
Of charms and fantasies together entwined,  
Or warm as a mother's embrace.  
For a child to claim their destiny, grace;  
To rule over a fight to the death,  
Only then will the sun uncover a secutor's breath."

Tired and battered, with leaves in his hair, Baekhyun looked up to the grim faces of Minseok and Chiron, and wondered how likely it was he could escape the big house without punishment. If only he had known then.

And really, all of this was definitely the Athena kids' fault.

~

Baekhyun is crying in the bathtub in the Apollo cabin. He wanted to take a shower, but the water is leaking out of his eyes instead, tiny muffled sniffles leaving his nose.

He's going to die. Jongdae's going to die too. And they're going to take Minseok down with them. There's no way they'll survive the quest, not with his and Jongdae's nonexistent experience and skill level. And it’s all! The Athena kids’! Fault!

He sniffles pitifully and tries to control his tears. He sighs, rubbing his eyes firmly to stop them from leaking, gods damn it, why wouldn't he stop crying! He continues washing up, ignoring the occasional tear, sniffle, dark thought, that try to distract him from the task, and quickly gets out of the shower. He washes his face several times in cold water after he gets dressed, hoping it'll rid his eyes of the redness and the slight swell.

He leaves the bathroom, head bowed down, so no one can see his face just in case, and goes to one of the cabin's shared wardrobes, which include his, to pack.

He's haphazardly throwing shirts and underwear in, not bothering to fold or sort them, when an "are you okay?" startles him out of his half dazed stupor.

He glances behind him, making sure his hair still falls over his eyes, to find a concerned heechul, the head of the Apollo cabin. He turns back around.

"Peachy."

"Aw, poor baby, you're totally not okay," heechul coos, and Baekhyun groans a sound of deep suffering. Heechul softens and approaches Baekhyun, laying an arm around his shoulder and bringing him closer to himself.

"It's going to be fine," he soothes, "I was scared shitless on my first quest too, but it's going to be fine."

"I'm going to die," Baekhyun laments, quietly, "it was nice knowing you."

"You better not," heechul warns. "I have no one else to play league with."

"League is turning into a real life game, and you know I always lose," Baekhyun groans, dropping his bag onto the floor and covering his face with his hands. He refuses to acknowledge the wetness that lands on his fingers.

Heechul chuckles. "I remember you winning like a whole eight times," heechul tries, hands sliding lower around Baekhyun as he takes him into a proper hug. "This is going to be one of those times. You're going to be fine."

"Yeah," Baekhyun sighs, more of out resignation than conviction. "I'm going to be fine."

~

Baekhyun needs to clear his head of all the mess and dark thoughts in it. His ears ring with heechul's words of comfort, but he can't get himself to believe them; the feeling of doom already so deeply rooted in his bones. He needs some fresh air. He heads to Kyungsoo’s cabin.

They struck up an unlikely friendship; the Emo Hades Child™, and the boisterous child of the sun. They're as different as night and day, yet Baekhyun would rather go to no one else for comfort.

Although normally Kyungsoo responds to Baekhyun's jokes and loud nature with an eye roll at best, a choke hold at worst, Kyungsoo is the best at comfort in Baekhyun's opinion. Very sensitive to the mood changes in others around him, Kyungsoo knows when Baekhyun needs a shoulder to lean on or a hit upside the head.

The Hades cabin and its surroundings are silent, as though isolated by a soundproof barrier from the rowdiness of the rest of the camp. But Baekhyun is used to the ominous feel of Kyungsoo's cabin, so he heedlessly steps toward the obsidian door, looking up amusedly at the hung skull and easily stepping inside.

He finds Kyungsoo in the only room in the cabin with proper lighting, sitting at the table Chanyeol made for him near the window. It’s also the room that Kyungsoo’s bed occupies. Instead of using one of the other beds in the cabin, which are coffin shaped with blood red sheets and pillows, Kyungsoo had opted for normalcy and borrowed a bed from the Hypnos cabin, paying the Hypnos kids in jewels he easily dug out of the ground.

Baekhyun knows he's painting. Usually at those times, Kyungsoo appreciates distractions and interruptions even less than he usually does, but Baekhyun could really use a distraction. Kyungsoo will understand.

He drags a spare chair from the opposite end of the room and sets it to the left of Kyungsoo. He curls an arm around Kyungsoo's busy one once he sits down, and contemplates whether or not he can lean his head against Kyungsoo's shoulder without getting hit. He decides to do it anyway. Kyungsoo, weirdly, doesn't respond at all.

"What are you painting?"

Kyungsoo shrugs lightly, jostling Baekhyun's head. "Take a look."

Baekhyun quirks his head upward to look. There are two hellhounds intertwined together, almost dancing around each other, painted in vibrant fiery colors. Hues of reds and oranges painted into smoking flames around the hounds, a contrast against the dark blue background Kyungsoo is in the process of perfecting.

"It's really pretty," Baekhyun says, almost absentmindedly, as his eyes take in all the details of the painting.

"It's really pretty," he repeats, louder, and with the proper matching awe to his voice.

Kyungsoo doesn't respond but there's a smile on his lips. Baekhyun leans his head back on Kyungsoo's shoulder, but at a better angle so he can watch Kyungsoo paint.

Kyungsoo has light soothing music on in the background. Baekhyun has never heard the song before. Watching Kyungsoo add delicate strokes to the painting with the soft music helps calm Baekhyun's frayed nerves.

"Where's your other half?" Kyungsoo asks after the silence stretches long enough between them.

Baekhyun averts his gaze from the painting to bury his head in Kyungsoo's shoulder.

"He went off alone," he answers, quietly, "can't find him." The pout is almost visible in his voice.

"So you came to bug me instead," Kyungsoo deadpans.

"So I came to bug you instead." Baekhyun grins, though Kyungsoo can't see him, head rising imperceptibly on Kyungsoo's shoulder.

Kyungsoo pauses in his painting to look over at Baekhyun, eyes serious on his. "When are you leaving for the quest?"

Baekhyun swallows the groan that he can feel so close to leaving his throat. "Tomorrow, I guess." He shrugs half heartedly. "At least that's what Chiron said. I don't know where either Jongdae or Minseok are, and we haven't talked properly about it."

Kyungsoo chuckles. "I did always hate group projects for that reason; no one cooperates."

"Right?!" Says Baekhyun, exasperatedly, "I blame Jongdae."

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Of course you do."

"Well, I can't really blame Minseok," Baekhyun points out. "It was his quest to begin with."

"Right, cuz you're never wrong."

"I'll have you know, I was the last to leave the big house. Definitely not my fault. I'm just a poor half blood involuntarily dragged into this mess, but who's trying his best nonetheless." Baekhyun emphasizes dramatically.

Kyungsoo merely chuckles at that. “Right, you poor half blood.”

A period of silence stretches between them then, Kyungsoo picking out a marker to paint finer details, fully focused on the task.

Baekhyun watches him for a while before Kyungsoo starts again. “Hey, though, at least the quest isn’t all bad. You’ll get to escape the angry Ares and Athena kids.”

Baekhyun sits up at that. “What do you mean?”

“The Ares kids were looking for you. Said something about losing the games because of you.”

Baekhyun chokes back a strangled scream, looking wide eyed and unseeing at Kyungsoo’s painting. “It wasn’t my fault though,” he whines.

Kyungsoo shrugs. “They were so sure they would win, with the Ares cabin and Athena cabin on one team.”

Baekhyun groans, burying his head back in Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “I’m never ever playing these games again. Literally, the one time I play!”

Kyungsoo only pats his head in reply.

~

Barely any time later, Baekhyun finds himself back in the the big house, a lot calmer and with the feeling of impending doom nothing but an itch in the back of his mind. Jongdae had come back from wherever he disappeared to, and across from Baekhyun, Dionysus is actually awake this time. They're supposed to be discussing their quest, but Minseok is stone faced with his arms crossed and all hell's anger on his face. Baekhyun really wishes he were anywhere but here.

Regardless of everyone's obvious feelings about the quest, Chiron starts anyway by clearing his throat, the deep sound of his voice echoing around the room.

"As this is originally Minseok's quest, he is already aware of the details. But the two of you are not." He directs at Baekhyun and Jongdae who are sitting side by side.

Chiron then goes on to explain. "The quest is to be handled with the utmost secrecy, therefore you can understand the need for it to be sensitive." There's a pause which Baekhyun can't describe with anything but dramatic as Chiron looks heavily between him and Jongdae. "So can I trust the two of you not to share the details with anyone?"

Jongdae and Baekhyun hastily nod. There's a tense silence then before Chiron breaks the news to them; "Zeus has another child.” And Jongdae and Baekhyun are left to stare at him like gaping fish.

Chiron goes on to explain, ignoring Jongdae's and Baekhyun's shocked expressions. "No one knows of this child's existence since they were kidnapped a little after birth. But now, the child has become of age, and Zeus wants to retrieve the child. He believes, for good reason, that the kidnapper's intentions are anything but good. And so, it's your quest to retrieve the child."

It all starts to settle in Baekhyun's mind a little, through his shocked haze, why they were chosen for the quest. Well, why Jongdae was chosen; he's still baffled why he was.

"As you may now agree, the prophecy makes it clear it's the three of you who will be going on the quest," Chiron continues, before turning to Minseok, who's sitting across from the duo. "Minseok, if you may recite the prophecy please."

Minseok remains stone faced for a second more, before he sighs, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward in his seat. He takes a deep breath and recites the words Baekhyun remembers as nothing but a blur.

"North winds enchanted off their paths, look east.  
In the folds of the ocean, storms brew amongst feasts.  
A veil as dark as night;  
Of charms and fantasies together entwined,  
Or warm as a mother's embrace.  
For a child to claim their destiny, grace;  
To rule over a fight to the death,  
Only then will the sun uncover a secutor's breath."

A silence falls over the table as the words register in Baekhyun's mind no better than the first time.

"So," he ventures, "I'm guessing I'm the sun?"

"Obviously." Dionysus rolls his eyes.

"There's no mention of me in the prophecy," Jongdae adds, "the 'storms' could be referring to anything."

"Enough of this," Chiron says immediately, "it is the three of you. Now we need to discuss your course of action."

Baekhyun looks over to Jongdae to find, well, storms brewing across his expression. After hearing more details, Baekhyun has no doubt in his mind anymore that it's definitely Jongdae the prophecy is referring to, but that doesn't stop his mood from souring as bad as Jongdae's.

It ends up being Minseok who steers the conversation to the important topics, and not the never ending spiral of whether the prophecy does refer to them that Jongdae and Baekhyun want it to be about.

"The prophecy mentions the ocean," he points out, and Chiron's expression soothes somewhat. "It seems we'll have to travel by sea."

Next to Baekhyun, Jongdae crosses his arms and leans back in his seat, clearly zoning out, a frown on his face.

"It does seem so," Chiron agrees. "It's an easy matter of finding the right ship. I would recommend the zenobia, a cargo-passenger ship sailed by children of hermes, the only sailing demigod ship. Or otherwise you could choose a mortal ship."

That piques Baekhyun's interest. "Isn't that the ship Krystal went on, on her last quest?" Even before her disappearance, krystal had been easily the most frequented topic of gossip among campers. The only child of Poseidon after Percy Jackson, and with her long flowing red hair and Aphrodite-worthy looks, not to mention the skills with a sword and control over the waters; many campers, boys and girls alike, fell for her. Baekhyun, proudly, is one of them.

Something flashes over Chiron's expression when he regards Baekhyun, but he nods. "It is."

"Isn't it dangerous to go on the same ship then?" Jongdae asks, still leaned back in his chair.

"No, the ship has still been sailing safely since Krystal's disappearance. There's no telling at what point in her quest Krystal had disappeared exactly."

"I think the zenobia would be better than a mortal ship," says Minseok.

"I agree," says Baekhyun. "I'd take a demigod ship over a mortal one any day." In all honesty though, he'd take the ship Krystal sailed on over any other.

Chiron nods in agreement. "Now the bigger question remains; of where you are heading."

"Do we know anything about the kidnapper?" Minseok asks.

"I'm afraid not." Chiron shakes his head, letting it hang down a little in disappointment. "Even with all of Zeus's power, he has not been able to find who it could be."

"It doesn't matter anyway, it's obvious you're heading east," interjects Dionysus.

"Wait, that's all we got?" Asks Jongdae, when nothing more is said of where they're heading, leaning forward in his seat. "So we don't know who we're facing, we don't know where we're going, we basically don't know anything but an obscure line from a prophecy?"

"These things take time. Most heroes figure out all the clues of the prophecy mid-quest," says Minseok.

"Excuse me for not finding that very reassuring," counters Jongdae. "If we're going off obscure lines, then there really is no guarantee it's me the prophecy is referring to. And I don't wanna die all because of you misreading a prophecy line."

"I don't want you on this quest anymore than you do," grits Minseok. "But I do have experience with reading these prophecies, as does Chiron, and you're just simply dis—" he stops, and lets out a heavy sigh. He levels Jongdae with another stare. "It is referring to you, and you know it as well as I do."

“It also mentioned the ‘ocean’,” Jongdae continues, relentless, “but that’s obviously not referring to a child of poseidon, how do you know this isn’t the same?”

"Enough!" Yells Chiron, as Baekhyun visibly blanches at Jongdae's words.

"How do you know the sun refers to Baekhyun and not another Apollo child, or the literal sun? It could be—" Jongdae doesn't get to finish his sentences before Chiron is slamming his hands down on the table. "That's enough!"

Jongdae directs his angry gaze away from Minseok to Chiron for no more than a second before he's throwing his chair back and running out of the room.

Tense silence pervades the room following his leave, a contrast from the loud yelling of before.

"Well, that went as well as would be expected," narrates Dionysus. "Guess meeting's over, I'm going to take my leave now." With that, he leaves his seat, following after Jongdae.

Baekhyun glances between Minseok and Chiron waiting for either their reactions. Minseok is staring at the seat Jongdae previously occupied, looking no less pissed than he did when he first walked into the meeting room. Chiron sighs.

"I'm gonna leave now, then," says Baekhyun, quietly leaving his seat. With how somber the mood now is, he has even less of a motivation to think the prophecy through. He is completely aware that it's going to be Minseok guiding them through the quest anyway.

Not much different from the previous meeting, Jongdae is nowhere to be found when Baekhyun leaves the big house. He sighs and heads to dinner.

~

That night, after everyone has fallen asleep, when the hush of whispers floating around Baekhyun’s cabin has died down, and no more lights are on in any of the cabins, Baekhyun can't sleep. He still hasn't found Jongdae since the morning, and he knows he hasn’t returned to his cabin since. He'd checked it earlier, and it was just as empty as ever.

He sighs. He has a feeling he knows where he is, but he must need his space. He turns over again, head still in overdrive and sleep forever elusive.

He considers his options; he can either go to the Hypnos kids' cabin and he'll immediately knock out, or he can find Jongdae. The choice seems easy.

He sneaks his way past his sleeping siblings and out of the cabin. He makes the trek to the back of the woods, where he knows he'll find Jongdae.

He finds him sitting at the large rock in a small clearing, where he always goes when he doesn't want to be found — which Baekhyun likes to think doesn't include him. His hand is outstretched, wolfed in crackling electricity. The intensity keeps fluctuating, flames of bright blue light swallowing his entire hand, before going down to reside on one finger.

He slowly makes his way over to sit next to him. There's a tiny explosion of electricity in Jongdae's hand when he's startled by Baekhyun's presence, before it goes out all together.

"Why are you awake?" He asks, sitting next to Jongdae.

Jongdae stares at him, eyes wide as though he's been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to find you," Baekhyun says like it's the most obvious thing ever.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Jongdae asks, retracting his hand back to his chest and fiddling with the rings around his fingers.

"I know all of the camp's secrets," Baekhyun emphasizes, eyes wide for effect. "I'm all present, and all seeing."

"What, are you Zeus?"

The words are barely out of his mouth when a huge bolt of lightning strikes the rock nearby. Baekhyun and Jongdae jump in fright, a loud yelp leaving Baekhyun.

They tentatively sit back down, and Jongdae yells, "sorry, Zeus," up at the sky.

"Say 'sorry, dad,'" Baekhyun stage whispers, elbowing Jongdae in the side.

"Sorry, dad," Jongdae yells instead.

There's an answering bolt of lightning a few feet from where they're sitting, but it's almost softer this time.

They stare at the spot for a while, a little smile on Jongdae's lips before Baekhyun starts again.

"So, why aren't you sleeping?"

"I can't sleep," Jongdae shrugs.

"Aw," Baekhyun coos, pinching Jongdae's cheeks. "Are you worried about the quest? I can come sleep with you." He throws his arms dramatically around Jongdae, as though he hadn’t been having the same troubles.

Jongdae shoves Baekhyun's face away before he can get too close. Baekhyun grumbles as he's unceremoniously thrown off the rock in his struggle to get to Jongdae.

"Is that what I get for my love?"

Jongdae merely huffs and looks away from Baekhyun.

Baekhyun gets up, dusting off his pants, and regards his friend for a while.

"C'mon," he tries, pulling on Jongdae's arms. "Let's go to bed."

"Can't sleep, gonna stay here," Jongdae replies, pulling his arm back.

Baekhyun sighs and lets go.

"Fine," he says, sitting back down next to Jongdae. "I'll stay with you then."

Jongdae only looks at Baekhyun as he sits back down, and merely shrugs. They don't talk, simply sit side by side. Jongdae's eyes are on the spot that had been struck. Baekhyun's eyes are on Jongdae.

Baekhyun gets up again after a few moments of silence. "Good talk, man. Bed now," he says with finality, reaching for Jongdae's hand again.

Jongdae lets Baekhyun tug — struggle to tug, more like — on his hand to no effect, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Loser," he crows.

"Fuck you, man." Baekhyun aggressively throws Jongdae's hand away. "And here I was worried about you."

Jongdae rolls his eyes. Baekhyun sighs. "Did you pack your bag?"

"Nope," Jongdae answers easily.

"Let's go do that." Baekhyun gently tugs on Jongdae's hand again. Jongdae sighs, "fine."

Baekhyun links their arms together to make sure Jongdae doesn't escape. "You're so persistent," Jongdae complains as they make their way out of the woods.

"Shut up," Baekhyun replies, clamping tighter on Jongdae's arm.

"Ow, baek," Jongdae whines, "i'm literally not going anywhere."

Baekhyun only smiles and clamps even tighter around Jongdae's arm. Jongdae's whines till they make it to the Zeus cabin are music to his ears.

He releases his arm as they step inside, crowing, "loser," back at Jongdae. Jongdae shoves him, almost making him trip.

Baekhyun makes himself at home on Jongdae's bed as Jongdae struggles to reach his bag on top of his wardrobe. He watches quietly as Jongdae sets it down on the floor, then flits around the cabin, collecting things and randomly throwing them in the bag.

"Hey, dae," he starts a while later. Jongdae looks up from his perch on the floor in front of the bag. "We're gonna be okay tomorrow, right?"

Jongdae looks back down, sorting the mess around him into his bag. "We are. We have Minseok, right?"

Baekhyun doesn't answer, a frown on his face.

"Zeus wouldn't let his son die, right?" He tries again a while later.

"I hope he wouldn't," Jongdae answers. "I don't think Apollo would let his son either."

Baekhyun laughs. "Children of Apollo die all the time. I'm hoping if I latch onto you, there's a chance I wouldn't die."

Jongdae throws the shirt in his hand at Baekhyun. The shirt misses him, lands on the floor next to the bed. "I knew you were only friends with me for my dad."

Baekhyun laughs. Jongdae asks him for his shirt back.

"What do _I_ get out of this quest?" Jongdae asks, "there's no other son of Zeus I can latch onto."

Baekhyun shrugs. "Guess you're stuck with me."

"I can't believe I'm stuck with you."

"Hey, it's okay," Baekhyun soothes. "Soon you won't be the only special snowflake; you'll get to have a brother that can't use his power either."

Baekhyun gets another shirt thrown at him. It lands right on his face this time before Jongdae asks for it back.

~

The morning of the quest, Baekhyun wakes up to urgent knocking sounds, constant violent rapping. He rapidly blinks his eyes, groggy and disoriented. He can feel squirming next to him, and he looks over to find Jongdae in a similar state of annoyed disorientation. They had argued the night before over how they both hate top bunks, and the beds were too far apart in Jongdae's cabin for midnight chats. Minutes of complaint and they were comfortably cuddled together in one bunk, words of comfort disguised as jokes passing softly between them.

"Warisit?" Jongdae groggily slurs, turning over and burrowing into Baekhyun's side instead. But the knocking doesn't stop. As Baekhyun slowly wakes up, he realizes it's coming from the door of the cabin.

He pushes out of the covers, Jongdae complaining at the loss of warmth, and makes it to the door on unsteady feet, squirming due to the coldness of the floor.

He opens the door, blinking rapidly at the sun, and finds an unimpressed Minseok at the door. He has his arms crossed around his chest and his foot tapping rapidly against the floor. Baekhyun lets out a confused, "huh?"

"I understand that you don't want to go on this quest anymore than I do," Minseok begins in faux calm, "but it's already noon. You two better be packed."

"What?" Baekhyun very intelligibly answers. Minseok sighs, uncrossing his arms, and pushing past Baekhyun into the cabin. He frowns in disdain at the bunk where Jongdae is still fitfully sleeping. It's when he turns around that Baekhyun notices the pack already on his shoulders.

"You've packed, didn't you?" Minseok questions Baekhyun, while making his way to Jongdae.

"Uh, yeah, we did," Baekhyun manages, following Minseok, not really trusting him in his apparent annoyance.

"Is he not gonna wake up?" Minseok peers down at Jongdae with what Baekhyun can only describe as utter disdain. "At the rate you two are going, the world would die and turn to ashes before we even catch the ferry."

Baekhyun not so subtly tries to wake Jongdae up, lightly shaking his shoulders. Thankfully for the both of them, he doesn't put up much of a fuss, groaning and opening his eyes. To be met with Minseok's. His eyes widen and he immediately sits up, the minimal sparks that were flying around his head and arms increasing in intensity.

"what are you doing here?" He stumbles through his words.

"What am I doing here?" Minseok lets out a dry laugh. "Right, what would I be doing here? This quest is already looking so great. I'll be in my cabin, you two better get ready in ten minutes."

He stomps out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him as he leaves. Baekhyun looks down at Jongdae to find him staring wide eyed at where Minseok left, too disoriented still to register what happened.

"The fuck?"

Baekhyun sighs, sitting down. "I think he's mad at us."

"Oh." Jongdae blinks rapidly to try to clear the sleep from his head. "That makes sense."

Baekhyun chuckles. "Anyway, I'm gonna use the bathroom first." He doesn't get a reply from Jongdae as he makes his way there.

Ten minutes later, they've both got their packs slung over their shoulders and ready to take on the quest. Or as ready as they can be. Not nearly as ready as Baekhyun would like them to be.

Before they leave the cabin, they find Dionysus coming through the door.

Baekhyun stutters in his steps, unsure why the god is here. Dionysus himself seems to be standing awkwardly, a little beyond the threshold.

"I've been convinced to aid your quest," Dionysus explains. "Honestly, Chiron is too soft-hearted for this camp," he says with obvious irritation in his voice, shaking his head a little. "Nevertheless, as my favorite campers, I feel a vague sense of obligation to care about your well being. This camp would be too uptight without you constantly getting in trouble. Overseeing your punishments always brings me the greatest joy," he says with the straightest poker face Baekhyun had ever seen on him.

Baekhyun hears Jongdae mutter a sardonic "thank you," in reply. Even though he can’t see him with his attention focused on Dionysus, Baekhyun imagines the eye roll Jongdae’s probably holding back.

Dionysus fishes something out of the pocket of his leopard patterned leather jacket. Baekhyun finds it's what seems to be an amulet. Its stone has a light blue sheen to it, glowing so faintly with the hue; it almost looks like a moonstone.

"Keep it on one of you at all times," he explains, dropping the stone in Baekhyun's outstretched hand. "You'll know when to use it."

With that, he leaves, not even waiting for Baekhyun's and Jongdae's hasty words of thanks nor their questions of what the stone is. By the time the two step out of the cabin, he'd already disappeared.

By the time they reach the boreas cabin, Baekhyun almost has a smile on his face, Jongdae a small one to match. They lightly knock on the door, and wait for no more than two seconds, before Minseok is striding through, a "took you long enough," thrown over his shoulder.

They quickly hurry after his swift strides, walking in line with him. They warily exchange glances, aware of his already sour mood and not sure how to bring up the amulet. Jongdae nudges Baekhyun’s shoulder lightly, and Baekhyun nudges him right back, nonverbally arguing his case that Jongdae should bring it up.

Their silent debate is interrupted by Minseok’s voice and irritated sigh. “Just say it.”

It ends up being Baekhyun who has to speak for the two. “Dionysus passed by before we left the cabin.” He fishes out the amulet from where he tucked it away in his pocket, “and gave us this.”

Minseok takes it from him, holding it delicately between his fingers. “What is it?”

Jongdae shrugs in reply. “No idea. He said we should keep it on one of us at all times. We’ll apparently know when we need it.”

Minseok regards it skeptically. “Right.” A tiny pause before he wonders. “Should I keep it then?”

“Yeah.” And nothing more is said on the matter, as Minseok puts it on. Baekhyun notices then the ring on his finger that wasn’t there before. A simple silver band around his ring finger, which Baekhyun recognizes as the dormant form of the lance/sword gifted to him by his dad, boreas, after he’d lost his previous camp-issued sword on a quest two years ago. Baekhyun has never figured out how Minseok summons the weapon, nor how he switches between a lance and a sword, the movement too fast for baekhyun to discern.

Baekhyun and Jongdae, on the other hand, each have a Chanyeol Made™ bracelet around their right wrists. While Baekhyun’s changes into a bow and arrow, Jongdae’s changes into a sword. It was chanyeol’s brilliant idea, though, to summon their respective weapons by doing “spider-man’s hand gesture”. Baekhyun and Jongdae could do nothing to change it, and were thus resigned to looking silly in the middle of any serious fight, to Chanyeol’s immense delight. They eventually managed to extract revenge by the countless, non stop pranks the Hephaestus cabin has seen. Baekhyun is hoping that, with time, the other Hephaestus kids will coerce Chanyeol into fixing Baekhyun’s and Jongdae’s bracelet in hopes of the pranks stopping.

The rest of the walk to the camp's gates is silent. Once they make it past the gate, Jongdae and Baekhyun exchange glances.

"what now?" Baekhyun asks.

Minseok sighs and fishes a gold coin out of his pocket, tossing it onto the road.

"The chariot of damnation, of course," he says before shouting. "Stêthi, ô hárma diabolês!" And before either of Jongdae or Baekhyun can exclaim in awe about the coin sinking through the dirt, there's a whirl of smoke, and what looks like an old worn taxi, made of smoke stops in front of them.

Jongdae lets out an excited "yooo," as he clambers into the taxi after Minseok, twin matching grins on his and Baekhyun's faces. Minseok merely rolls his eyes.

"Red hook terminal, please," Minseok politely asks.

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Baekhyun hears from the front seat, as they're taking off. Baekhyun barely closes the door before he's already slammed back into his seat, head feeling like it'll be snapped off his neck with how violently it jerked back.

When he gets his bearings around him again, he notices trees whizzing past before quickly changing into tall buildings and smooth asphalt roads, instead of the rocky camp half blood hill.

"Fuck, I think I'm bleeding."

Baekhyun looks over to find Jongdae tightly holding his head. Baekhyun quickly figures out Jongdae had been unlucky and hit the front seat on the recoil.

"Careful there, boy, you'll have to pay extra if you damage these seats."

Baekhyun looks over where the voice came from, to find three women in the front seat, grey hair pulled up into buns, with one having her frail strands falling around her neck. The one in the middle is looking back at Jongdae, wrinkled face wrinkled even more in disdain. Baekhyun would say she's glaring, except there's nothing where her eyes should be. Baekhyun barely manages to hold his gasp.

"Oh, your first time in chariot!" She directs at Baekhyun. "Oh wait!" Baekhyun visibly recoils as her whole face lights up in glee. "Your first quest!"

She quickly turns to the other two women, exclaiming her finding. "The other boy, too!" The one on the right, exclaims when she turns around in excitement too. Baekhyun gulps when the third one, the one at the wheel, turns around as well. Unlike the other two, she has one eye, and she's peering with it closely at Baekhyun, leaving the road completely unattended.

They swerve violently right, Jongdae falling right into Baekhyun's lap, still clutching his head in pain. Minseok manages to brace himself against his door, yelling "the wheel! The wheel! The wheel!"

The three women ignore Minseok.

"Hey, give me the eye! I want to see their faces, too!" The one on the right yells at the other, reaching over and trying to claw at her face. She doesn't manage it before the other jumps out of the way.

"I'm driving, I should have the eye," she says, and turns back around. The car suddenly veers sharply left as she rights it back on the road. Baekhyun’s and Jongdae’s knock heads in the process and twin groans leave their mouths. Baekhyun thinks he can spy the car flying over sidewalks, past red lights, and squeezing terribly tight between cars, at incredible speeds. He's going to be sick.

In the front seat, the three women are still squabbling over the eye, reaching over each other and knocking each other out of the way. The car continuously veers out of the road before righting back. Baekhyun has a tight grip on his door handle with one arm, a tight grip on Jongdae who has nothing to hold onto with the other.

Something slimy rolling over the women's seat catches Baekhyun's attention. It flits too fast over before falling forward. In the next moment the car comes to a horrible lurch, and Baekhyun is thrown forward into the back of the seat in front of him.

"Got it!" Exclaims from the front, and one of the women is peering down at three raggled demi gods in the backseat.

She peers closely at their faces. "You make very handsome heroes," she nods in contemplation. "But boy," she concentrates on Baekhyun, "you did not wash your face nice, did you?" She frowns in disapproval, "your eyes are still red from that bout you had yesterday."

Baekhyun loudly, nervously, laughs. "Why did we stop?" He loudly asks.

"We're here," the middle lady says. "Chop, chop, get out unless you pay extra."

Baekhyun doesn't waste a second in running out the door, Jongdae and Minseok following behind. Minseok barely has his feet on the ground before the car is already turning back into smoke. Jongdae doesn't waste time either in puking his guts out on the sidewalk.

"That was... Something," Baekhyun marvels.

"That was the chariot of damnation," Minseok explains, looking almost unaffected, "the fastest mode of transport for demigods."

Baekhyun whistles. "That sure was fast."

Jongdae comes back to their conversation then. "Hey, what did she mean your bout from yesterday?" He asks Baekhyun.

Baekhyun very strategically steers the topic of conversation back. "Wait, if it's the fastest, why didn't we just take that to wherever we’re going?"

"Baekhyun." Jongdae determinedly gets between him and Minseok. "What was it about?"

"Why do we have to take a boat, if the chariot of whatever is faster?"

Minseok shrugs. "The chariot only operates in new york."

While Jongdae remains relentless. "Hey, don't ignore me, what was she talking about?"

Baekhyun resolutely walks in the other direction, taking in his surroundings. He finds they were dropped a little inwards of the huge gates with bold "red hook terminal" written over them. All around them are crates and busy people milling around, talking on phones and carrying things.

"Where would we find the ship in this?" He power walks in the direction where he can see water.

"Baekhyun Byun!" Jongdae calls after him. "Don't ignore me!"

"Hey, Minseok?" Baekhyun calls back. "Did they tell you how we're supposed to find the ship?"

Minseok easily catches up to him. "There are literally only five ships around," he points out. Baekhyun looks around before letting out a little "oh."

"It'll be easy to spot it," Minseok continues.

"Byun!" Suddenly Baekhyun has Jongdae's arm around his neck, dragging him backward. "Stop ignoring me!"

"How do I answer when you're choking me?" Baekhyun sputters out.

"Figure it out!" Jongdae yells. "What was she talking about?"

Baekhyun makes fake exaggerated choking noise, squirming in Jongdae's hold. "Can't breathe," he uselessly chokes out.

"Oh? Is my hold too tight?" Jongdae feigns his concern and tightens his grip. "Better now?"

"Let go!" Baekhyun tries twisting free of Jongdae's hold but it's all futile; Jongdae is holding too tightly.

"I found the ship." Breaks them out of the squabble. Jongdae immediately lets go of Baekhyun. Baekhyun chokes an exaggerated gasp.

"It's over there," Minseok points. Where he's pointing is a huge white ferry with several floors, sitting proudly at dock. "Zenobia" is written in greek gold lettering on its side, easily distinguishable from the ships around it.

"whoa," Baekhyun involuntarily lets out.

The ship is huge, structure irregular, and painted completely in white. It glints in the sunlight, looking royal in the way it almost shines. Baekhyun can spot a ton of electronic gadgets littered around it, most of which he can not guess their name, let alone their purpose.

Baekhyun quickly hurries after Minseok, more than ready to distract Jongdae. The raft stretches upward into the ship. Baekhyun steps onto the spiky steps, to be met with a huge deck. At the far end, he can see boxes of cargo piled haphazardly that he eyes skeptically but doesn't comment. There are demigods, and even satyrs, already milling around on board. One of the demigods particularly catches his eye, long red hair falling down to her mid back. But before he can ogle further, a guy steps into his field of vision.

The guy looks to be in his late twenties, figure bulkier but fit, filling out his clothes nicely but not standing out. He has a sandy beard, mismatching with his dyed blue hair. He has a welcoming face, eyes friendly.

He greets them on board, in a dull bored voice, as though he'd already said these words a million times before.

"welcome aboard the zenobia, the only demigod ship for water travel. On board, you'll find we're provided with all the facilities you may need on your stay, and you are always welcome to ask any of the crew members if you have any inquiries about anything." He looks from one face to the other and continues. "All for ten dollars each, and your help around the ship when needed. We don't have triple cabins, but a single is for twenty dollars each, and a double is for thirty. Per day obviously." He rolls his eyes for emphasis. "Or you can roam around the ship till we get to your destination." He grins at them, as they all groan at the prices.

"They said it was cheap here!" Baekhyun complains.

"As cheap as it could get," they guy easily replies.

"We'll take a double room please," Minseok says, handing him the needed money for the day.

Once he has the money, the guy brightens up even more, happily handing them the key. "Great to have you on board! I'm Noah, by the way. Over there," he points behind him right next to the railway, "there is a hung up map of our route and how long it usually takes to get there. And over there," he points across to the only building on deck, “you’ll find a hallway with all the cabins.”

"Thanks, Noah," Baekhyun grumbles, as though he was the one who paid the money, and heads to where he pointed. It strikes him then that he doesn’t know where they’re going, as he stares at the jumbled mess of the map that he doesn’t understand. But he does notice Minseok’s face souring next to him after regarding the map for a few minutes.

Minseok lets out a sigh and heads to where Noah said the cabins would be; the other two following timidly. The hallway Noah had told them about has rows of cabins lining it, left and right, and stretching all the way down. Almost indefinitely, Baekhyun would say, unable to see the end of the hall.

Their cabin number is 149, and they find it somewhere around the middle of the hallway. Or what Baekhyun assumes is the middle, by how far they walked to get there. "Are there really demigods in all of these?" Baekhyun wonders, once they get inside.

"I don't know, but there did seem a lot of people on board," Jongdae says.

The room has two beds separated by a small bedside table. There's barely any space between the beds and the opposite wall, just enough space for them to walk comfortably in. At the far wall, there's single chair and a tiny coffee table. Baekhyun spies a door, which he assumes is the bathroom. And sure enough it is, a tiny space with the small toilet seat tucked almost inside the shower.

He closes the door and steps out, throwing his pack in the entryway next to Minseok's and Jongdae's. Minseok is already moving the bedside table out from between the beds, Jongdae standing helplessly at the side. In the confusion of everything, Baekhyun had forgotten Minseok was mad at them.

“Well, this isn't gonna be awkward at all," he mutters under his breath, as he helps push the beds together after the bedside table is totally out of the way. They're going to have to share the beds. Or well, Baekhyun guesses, Jongdae and Baekhyun will squeeze together on one bed while Minseok takes the other. Yeah, totally not awkward.

Once the beds are pushed together, Minseok straightens and announces he's taking a shower. Baekhyun has the haunting feeling it's more to get out of their presence rather for an actual need for a shower. He sighs and gets out of his way.

Once the bathroom door is locked behind Minseok, Baekhyun and Jongdae easily throw themselves on the bed, bouncing lightly on the mattress. It's protocol to test the bed first thing in an hotel room, or well, a cabin on a cargo passenger ship.

"So," Jongdae begins, once they're settled comfortably next to each other. "What was the woman in the chariot talking about?"

Baekhyun groans, rolling away from Jongdae. "I thought you'd forgotten," he whines.

Jongdae rolls his eyes. "Of course, I didn't." He doesn't say further, just waits for Baekhyun to come back and open up on his own.

Baekhyun only continuously groans instead, rolling across the entire length of the two beds then back. "It's not that big of a deal!" He protests.

Jongdae only looks at him pointedly, sure to make their eyes connect. Baekhyun quiets, and sighs.

"I was just worried about the quest," he finally offers quietly.

It takes a moment before it clicks in Jongdae's head. Then he's scooting over to Baekhyun, big grin on his lips before wrapping his arms around him.

"Aw, you were worried."

"Shut it!" Baekhyun says, elbowing whatever he can reach of Jongdae. Jongdae recoils but quiets after that, simply holding onto Baekhyun.

"We're not dead, yet," he reasons with Baekhyun.

Baekhyun huffs, half a laugh that's more air than anything. "It's barely been a day."

"Small victories." Jongdae smiles.

Baekhyun releases a small breath. "Small victories," he agrees.

They quiet for a while after that before Baekhyun starts again. "There aren't monsters on this ship, right? Or at sea?"

"Don't think so," Jongdae muses.

"That means a few more days of survival." Baekhyun grins.

Jongdae laughs. "Big victories?" Jongdae asks.

"Yeah."

"Hey, what about the prophecy though?" Asks Jongdae.

"Oh, I forgot about the prophecy." Baekhyun frowns. "No days of survival then." He pouts.

"I wonder what it meant by the ‘storms brewing’ though," Jongdae muses.

The sound of Minseok exiting the bathroom startles Jongdae and Baekhyun into falling silent, having gotten too comfortable together. Baekhyun only then notices that the sound of the shower head had been off for a while.

Minseok ignores them mostly, unpacking things from his bag, and placing them around their tiny cabin. Jongdae's and Baekhyun's eyes flit around, following his movement.

The awkwardness all comes to a halt when Minseok sighs and stretches, hands around his waist as he faces them.

"We need to talk," he says.

"No shit," Baekhyun replies, though his voice is a little quieter, a little more timid, not as potent with the snark.

Minseok rolls his eyes but makes his way over to the bed, plopping down next to them. Jongdae itches to move over and make more room between them and Minseok, but he stays put. The awkwardness is already enough as is.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning, and for the things I said during the meeting," Minseok says. Baekhyun and Jongdae stay silent in shock. He doesn't say much further, just waiting for their reaction. Or for them to accept the apology.

"That's it?" Jongdae asks, when the silence stretches too long.

Minseok shrugs. "What more is there to say?”

Baekhyun chuckles. "Apologies are usually longer, as far as I know."

Minseok rolls his eyes. "Do you want me to grovel for your forgiveness?" He clasps his hands together in mock apology, "oh, lord Baekhyun almighty, please forgive me for the way I acted this morning."

Baekhyun laughs this time, loud and unrestricted. "Apology accepted."

“I’m sorry too, for the things I said during the meeting,” adds Jongdae.

“Apology accepted,” echoes Minseok.

There's a weight immediately lifted off all their shoulders, as the tension in the room bleeds out.

"Now that we've established Minseok does have a sense of humor, I think we need to discuss the quest."

Baekhyun groans when Jongdae mentions the quest, rolling over and away.

"Can't we just wing it?" He tries, and he can see Minseok visibly hold in an exasperated sigh.

"No, we can't just wing it." Jongdae drags Baekhyun over to where he was, by the scruff of his neck.

Baekhyun huffs and pouts, waiting for them to start talking.

Once Baekhyun quiets down, Minseok starts. "Yesterday, Chiron and I thought further about the prophecy and the quest."

Jongdae and Baekhyun listen to Minseok with attentive ears. “Zeus has managed to track the child to florida, but quite strangely, he can’t see him, nor where he is exactly.”

“We’re screwed,” Baekhyun very helpfully supplies, planting his face in his hands. “Whoever can even mess with Zeus’s power must be pretty powerful, dude, how would us three puny demigods defeat them?!”

“Thanks for the positivity broadcast,” says Jongdae, patting Baekhyun’s thigh next to him. “Please continue,” he directs at Minseok.

“The prophecy said look east, and well, yes, florida is east, so that’s one part down,” Minseok continues, with an amused chuckle. “To be quite honest, I have no idea what ‘a veil as dark as night’ might mean, but I reckon it refers to whatever’s obscuring Zeus's vision.”

“How promising,” comments Baekhyun.

Minseok ignores that too. “Now the child the prophecy mentions could be any one of us, but we’ve each already been clearly mentioned once. So it probably refers to the other Zeus child, having some destiny to claim.”

“This isn’t a Zeus child ritual thing, is it?” Frowns Jongdae. “I don’t have a destiny to claim.”

Minseok shrugs. “The prophecy mentions ruling over a fight to the death, which… i’m not looking forward to finding out exactly what that means.”

“And it mentions me right after!” Baekhyun whines. “We really should just head back to camp; I really don't wanna be in any fight to the death.”

“However,” continues Minseok, “I guess that means the child isn’t being held prisoner, if they’re gonna be ruling over a fight.”

“Maybe, they rule over a fight among prisoners,” voices Jongdae.

“But that’s no ‘destiny, grace’, “ points out Minseok.

“So the child rules over a fight to the death, and ‘only then will the sun uncover a secutor’s breath’, what does that mean?” asks Jongdae.

“Truthfully,” starts Minseok. “I have no fucking idea. All I know is that secutor is a class of gladiator. But those are long gone? It could have to do with the destiny though. Maybe whoever the kidnapper is, started a ritual to revive the gladiators to overtake Zeus or something.”

Baekhyun stares up at Minseok with a blank expression for a few moments. “Wow, sounds fun,” he says before twisting around on the bed. “I’m going back to camp, I want no part in this.”

Baekhyun can feel Jongdae rolling his eyes as he drags him back where he was sitting.

“But weren’t the gladiators mostly for entertainment?” asks Jongdae. “Not for wars. Why not summon an army or even a titan, instead of a bunch of ancient wrestlers.”

Minseok sighs. “I don't know. I might be wrong.”

“Maybe they want the gladiators for something else?” Baekhyun suggests. “Not to overtake Zeus.”

“But then what are they doing with the child?” counters Minseok.

“Man, this thing is not making sense at all,” says Jongdae, flopping down on the bed.

“It really isn’t,” sighs Minseok. “Let’s just focus on the oceans part, and try to figure out what’s happening between here and florida, which is five days away according to the map Noah pointed at.” He scowls. “That’s so much money!”

“We can split the expenses at the end of the trip,” soothes Jongdae.

Minseok nods silently, but still looks disgruntled.

“Ship?” prompts Baekhyun.

“‘In the folds of the ocean, storms brew amongst feasts,’” recites Minseok.

“That says nothing at all,” whines Jongdae. “Will my powers go haywire?”

“Let’s hope for that,” Baekhyun says. “That’s easy to handle.”

“I do wonder what it means by feasts,” Minseok says. “Somehow I don’t think it’s as simple as Jongdae’s powers going haywire. What feasts do you interrupt?”

“His powers go haywire during dinner,” Baekhyun supplies. “By the way, when is dinner? I’m starving, I didn’t have breakfast.”

“I’ve seen a pamphlet,” says Minseok before twisting around to get a pamphlet that was on the coffee table.

“Dinner at five,” says Minseok, after flipping through it.

“It’s still three thirty,” whines Baekhyun before flopping face down on the bed. “Do either of you have food?” He asks into the sheets.

He feels something poking into his sides and looks up to find Jongdae offering him a granola bar.

“Thanks, dude.”

Jongdae nods in reply.

“So basically, we still don’t understand anything about the prophecy,” Jongdae recounts.

“Basically,” answers Minseok.

~

Dinner, two hours laters, turns out to be a huge affair hosted in one of the biggest halls of the ship. The little pamphlet they read through said dinner was from 5:00 pm till 9:00 pm in cabin 200. They hadn't been expecting much, considering it was supposedly in a cabin. They were more skeptical than anything. But as they made their way down the cabins hallway to cabin 200, the only one with a wide open double door, they were greeted with the biggest dining hall they'd ever laid eyes on.

Inside, the hall almost stretches endlessly, the glass windows on all sides giving it an ever wider feel. The carpeting under their feet has a sandy color to it; accompanied with the colors of the ocean that they could see through the windows and spaciousness of the hall, it gave the calm feeling of being by the seaside. There were countless long tables across the entire lengths of the hall, too many to even give an estimate of. Along the windows, there were long buffet tables, filled to the brim with food.

By the time they made it to the dining hall, the sun had already long set, the sky already already a deep dark color through the glass windows. It's rowdy within the hall, demigods occupying almost the entire hall. But even through the crowds, it's easy to spot the people with blue toned skin; naiads.

Baekhyun wonders what naiads would be doing on a ship, but doesn't think further on it, attention instead swept by the buffet tables.

There all kinds of food around the tables, Baekhyun finding almost a different cuisine on each table. He tries to make it around the entire hall to find all the different cuisines, but the hall is too huge and his plate is too full too fast. He had at least found the korean cuisine among the first few tables, and his plate is now full with all the food that he hadn't eaten in a while. He has food from a few different cuisines as well, mostly salads and side dishes from mexican, vietnamese, and chinese cuisines. And he has the biggest slice of pizza he could find laid over his rice.

The hall, they find, has no small tables for a company of three like themselves, instead arranged in long tables strewn all around, most of which are already occupied.

"i'm never leaving this place," declares Baekhyun, taking his seat next to a boy about their age, shoving several bites of his pizza in one mouthful. The boy greets them with a subtle nod of his head but nothing more. The seat on the other side of the boy is unoccupied.

Jongdae's plate is in a similar state, except a lot more diverse than Baekhyun's, having taken a single thing from each table they've passed. Baekhyun is not sure what half of the stuff on his plate are. He's not even sure Jongdae himself knows, judging by the way Jongdae makes a disgusted face after taking a bite off some of the stuff.

Minseok's plate is a lot more moderately full, mostly filled with korean cuisine, with a pasta being the only exception. He also has a cup of coffee next to his plate, and he immediately gets a blissed out look on his face when he takes a sip out of it. Baekhyun grimaces at how anyone could look that satisfied at the taste of coffee.

When Baekhyun is a quarter of the way through the mound of food he has stacked on his plate, and already feeling like he might've overdone it a little — just a little —, another boy comes to sit in the unoccupied seat left next to the boy Baekhyun sat next to.

Baekhyun is surprised to find the boy leaning over with a friendly smile on his face, even before he digs into his plate.

"you guys are the new guys, right. Boarded today?” He says enthusiastically. "Welcome onboard! I'm Jongin!" He stretches his arm to shake hands with all of them individually as they introduce themselves one by one. However, he does have a little trouble reaching Minseok who sits the farthest away.

"and this guy over here,” motioning the boy from earlier, who he’d sat next to, “is Sehun, a slight introvert. Maybe a little more than a slight!” He introduces. Sehun responds with a nod in their direction and not much else. "The two of us work here, I hope you're enjoying your stay so far."

"The food is amazing," Jongdae unabashedly says, mouth still half full.

Jongin laughs in reply, "it really is, isn't it?”.

"You work here?" Minseok interrupts. "Are you a child of Hermes?"

Jongin shakes his head. "I'm a son of Selene, Sehun is a child of Hermes.” Taking in their confusion, he filled in; “ the goddess of the moon."

They nod in understanding before Jongdae interrupts. "I thought the ship was only sailed by children of Hermes?"

“It is," Sehun speaks up for the first time. “They do allow wandering demigods though. I haven't always been on the ship either, just joined the crew a year ago roughly."

"Oh, you must've been here when Krystal was on the ship then,” Baekhyun can't help but insert, wide eyed, his chopstick halfway to his mouth.

The two boys look taken aback for a split second before nodding in agreement. "We were, yeah," answers Jongin. "By the way, you haven’t mentioned, but you're demigods too, right?"

Baekhyun clears his throat to proudly introduce himself as a child of Apollo. Jongin, impressed, in return lets out a small whistle. Baekhyun beams at the reaction, and turns to Jongdae. Jongdae scowls at him, not as happy to flaunt his parentage wherever.

"I'm a child of Zeus," he introduces quietly. Jongin and Sehun quite literally gape at him, no low whistles, nothing, just wide eyed, open mouthed gaping.

"Oh my gods," Sehun speaks up eventually, "are you kidding?"

Jongdae shrugs and shakes his head.

"I'm a child of Boreas," adds Minseok awkwardly, "not that anyone was wondering."

A wide grin begins to appear on Jongin's face. "We've got a child of Apollo and a child of Zeus on board! What are the chances.”

His excitement is cut short by a harsh slap on his back. “Too loud, Jongin."

Jongin turns around, unfazed, beaming at the man coming towards them. "Captain! We've got a child of Zeus on board!"

Baekhyun's previous grin at Jongin's excitement fades, as he turns to Minseok, understanding now how he feels in situations like this. Jongdae, although previously uncomfortable with the unnecessary attention, is now happily reveling in it, grin slightly exaggerated just to rub it in Baekhyun's face.

“Ugh, shut up.” Baekhyun shoves Jongdae away, who had gotten too close in his gloating.

The man Jongin had called captain lets out an eager, "really?", As Jongin points excitedly at Jongdae, “there hadn’t been any children of Zeus the last time I dropped by camp half blood."

Jongdae shrugs. "I've been at camp for two years."

The captain is a tall intimidating man, with short cropped dyed white hair, and sharp features. He has a full sleeve of tattoos adorning the tan skin of his right arm, visible through his sleeveless shirts. The rings on his fingers almost completely cover the skin, yet even then, his hands still manage to look elegant holding onto his plate as he takes the vacant seat next to Minseok. He also has countless piercings adorning his face and ears.

Next to him, sits a dark skinned, dark haired asian woman whom they hadn't noticed before. She looks older than the captain, and with the aid of her heels, just as tall. She doesn't speak or pay them any mind once she's sat down, only focused on her moderately full plate, merely an intimidating shadow behind the captain.

As Jongin introduces the captain, Baekhyun finds himself wary of the man's sharp features, and ever present scowl.

But soon all intimidation flies out of the window, as the captain, introduced himself as captain Zitao, laughs at a lame pun Minseok says, giggles pitching higher than anything Baekhyun's ever heard, face morphing into an ugly laugh. Baekhyun is immediately shocked for several reasons, starting with his former image of the captain crumbling within mere seconds, and ending with the joke coming out of Minseok's mouth.

Baekhyun watches in amusement as Zitao almost melts into Minseok's side, giggles continuously leaving his lips. Baekhyun watches in even more amusement as Minseok almost looks proud.

It quickly becomes obvious that the captain already has a favorite as they properly introduce themselves. And now no longer intimidated, Baekhyun doesn't hold back in remarking on the blatant favoritism. The captain only grins wide as he slings an arm around Minseok's much smaller shoulder, shrugging uncaringly. And okay, Baekhyun doesn't fear for his life anymore, as he returns the captain's grin.

They quickly find out Zitao is only twenty one, a mere year older than Minseok, and not in his late twenties to early thirties, like Baekhyun thought.

The captain looks shocked once he finds out their ages, eyes quickly darting between all three of them, mouth hanging open. Baekhyun can definitely spot a tongue piercing there.

"I thought you were the youngest," Zitao remarks, pointing at Minseok.

"Yeah, I get that often." Minseok shrugs.

Baekhyun tries to stifle his snickers once he sees the pure offence on Jongdae's face. He feels a little offended as well at being mistaken as older than Minseok, who's a whole three years older than both him and Jongdae, but it's a lot more amusing on Jongdae's face.

Conversation flows easily between the six of them from then on, dinner almost forgotten. Baekhyun finds himself lending an ear to each side of the table; Sehun's and Jongin's conversation going from quiet discussions to loud bickering, on his left; and Zitao getting to know Minseok better, gaze attentive and smile bordering on adoring, while Jongdae whines about being the forgotten child of Zeus, on his right.

Baekhyun spaces out of the conversation then, when he notices the girl he'd seen when they were boarding the ship. Fiery red hair framing her tanned face in a pretty contrast of colors. Tanned legs stretching almost endlessly, and Baekhyun almost drops his chopsticks as he trails his eyes up her figure.

A whistle brings Baekhyun out of his stupor.

"Way out of your league, baek," Jongdae whispers close to his side, nudging him lighty, as his own eyes are hooked over her.

She turns around to fill her plate, and Baekhyun can feel his mouth hanging open around the chopsticks hanging limply between his fingers. She's wearing the tiniest, tightest, shorts, almost leaving nothing to the imagination. The gold of her sandals melts into the tan of her legs, and Baekhyun is definitely not falling out of his seat to stare. Her hair falls down to her mid back in pretty waves that glint with the light, and, yup, Baekhyun is totally screwed.

"Way way way out of your league." Jongdae repeats, emphasizing the words, as he watches Baekhyun's eyes transfixed on her figure, huge dinner forgotten in front of him.

She abruptly turns around, eyes meeting Baekhyun's. Baekhyun turns back so suddenly to his plate, he drops his chopsticks into his soup, droplets of it splattering on his face. He flushes to the roots of his hair, as Jongdae unashamedly cackles at him.

Baekhyun turns to the food in front of him instead, trying to bury his shame with food, not daring to look up again. He does feel the conversation around him shifting as Jongdae easily offers the reasons for his cackling, pointing to a still red-faced Baekhyun.

Baekhyun looks up to find even the dark haired woman sitting next to Zitao smiling amusedly at his misery. On his left, Jongin's cackling has joined Jongdae’s. Only Zitao isn't smiling, instead looking at him with what can only be described as a heavy look. But Baekhyun doesn't get to ponder on it before he finds himself obligated to throw his arm around Jongdae's neck, choking him in retaliation for his teasing.

As always, Jongdae's whines and pleads for him to let go are worth the stinging sparks Jongdae has no control over running up his arm.

It's when they're leaving the hall, everyone full and happy with the company, that Zitao follows the trio who are heading to their cabin.

"May I have a word with Baekhyun?"

They exchange silent looks before Jongdae shrugs, "all yours," and leaves with Minseok.

All yours, Baekhyun echoes in his head. What if the captain is dangerous; they are on a quest after all.

He warily faces the captain, gaze questioning.

"The woman you were staring at before," Zitao says, towering over Baekhyun but leaning forward, almost conspiratorially. "I really advise you to stay away from her."

Baekhyun frowns. "Why? Do you know her?"

"Well, of course. I am the captain, aren't I?" Zitao rolls his eyes. "I can't tell you more, but I hope you do —" he doesn't get to finish his sentence before someone is calling his name. He turns around almost abruptly, and Baekhyun is not sure he mistook the alarmed look on his face or not.

Baekhyun leans around the captain to find the dark haired asian woman from earlier is the one who called him.

"I'll catch you later, Baekhyun," the captain says, striding towards her. "You should listen to what I said though," he warns before he turns around completely.

Baekhyun stands alone in the hallway once they've disappeared from sight, unsure of what to make of the captain's words.

He makes his way way back to his cabin, only to meet Minseok and Jongdae halfway there, who were already walking to meet him halfway.

"What are you doing?" he questions.

"You really thought we'd leave you alone with the scary bipolar captain?" says Jongdae. Baekhyun shrugs in response, but feels a definite smile spread on his face.

"What was that about?" Asks Minseok.

"He told me that i should apparently stay away from the girl i was staring at." Shrugs Baekhyun.

"What?" asks Jongdae skeptically. "That's all?"

"He didn't say anything else," explains Baekhyun. "Didn't say why."

"Weird," says Minseok.

~

That night, as predicted, Baekhyun and Jongdae sleep squished together on one bed, leaving the other for Minseok. Even though they had made up, it had still felt too awkward. Jongdae and Baekhyun had a mental war of who sleeps in the middle, and eventually settled it with rock-paper-scissors. Upon losing, Jongdae had immediately pushed himself into Baekhyun and left Minseok as much space as possible behind him. Another conversation conveyed entirely with their faces had ensued as Baekhyun tried to push Jongdae away, but had lost that battle, Jongdae squeezing him tighter instead. All the while Minseok regarded them bemusedly before falling into his side of the bed.

Baekhyun sighs, and tries to fall asleep instead. But his mind stays abuzz with thoughts for what feels like hours. Thoughts of the quest, what the captain had meant, the mysterious lady, and of course the red haired lady.

Baekhyun feels a blush climbing up his cheeks as he thinks of her.

After what feels like hours, when Baekhyun's mind eventually falls silent and he's so close to succumbing to sleep, he feels the bed rock before Minseok is standing in his view, heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" He sleepily mumbles, though he's not sure if that's really what came out of his mouth.

Fortunately, Minseok seems to understand. "Need fresh air; can't sleep." Before the door is already closed behind him. Baekhyun hums and doesn't waste time in shoving Jongdae, who's already deeply asleep, away from his side. He relishes the freedom he gets from finally being able to move his limbs, before finally falling asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Minseok wakes up with the mother of all headaches; head ringing and aching and even the minimal rays of sunlight peeking through the curtain cause his head to throb violently.

He groggily sits up on the bed to find Baekhyun rummaging through his bag, loudly grumbling about something Minseok is too sleepy to decipher. Minseok screws his eyes shut and lies down, burrowing deeper under the covers, and grumbling for Baekhyun to shut up.

"No can do," Baekhyun replies, making his way over to Minseok. "Someone came over to the cabin and asked us to be on deck by noon. It's already eleven thirty."

Minseok groans, trying to bury his head under the pillow. He hears a matching groan from across the bed and assumes Jongdae is in a similar state. Minseok is a little surprised Baekhyun is the first one up.

Baekhyun yanks lightly at the blankets under which Minseok and Jongdae are hiding, urging them to get up.

Minseok sighs and submits to his fate. He sits back up on the bed and blearily asks Baekhyun if he had any painkillers, since he didn't think to bring some.

Baekhyun shrugs a no. "Try some nectar instead."

Minseok frowns. "It's just a headache." He sighs and swings his legs over the bed. He hopes a warm shower would help soothe his throbbing head a bit.

By the time he's out of the shower, and putting on his shirt back around the amulet -- which he had found is water resistant --, Jongdae is sitting up on the bed, still looking half asleep. He flops back on the bed and groans when he catches sight of Minseok.

"Want to sleep," he grumbles, before he too gets a change of clothes from his pack and makes his way to the bathroom.

"I brought breakfast!" Baekhyun announces. Minseok looks to indeed find two coffee cups and a few croissants on the bedside table that they had pushed against the far wall of the cabin, under the window.

"You're a saint," Minseok intones, as he takes one of the coffee cups and sits back on the bed, hoping it would soothe the headache that the shower failed to. Baekhyun grins in response, taking one of the croissants, offering another to Minseok.

Minseok bites into it and finds it stuffed with cheese, and he almost melts at the buttery goodness. His coffee too tastes heavenly, low on sugar like he likes it, and he almost forgets his headache in favor of telling Baekhyun how much he appreciates him.

"If I had known coffee was all it takes for you to confess your love, I would've gotten you coffee earlier."

Minseok doesn't even find it in himself to retort, fully admitting that coffee is his weakness.

Baekhyun checks his watch when they’re both done with their croissants, telling Minseok they have to be on deck in ten minutes. Minseok groans and flops down on the bed, complaining about his headache.

“It’s probably ‘cause you slept so late,” says Baekhyun. “It’ll be gone when the coffee kicks in.”

“Slept late?” Asks Minseok confusedly, “I didn’t sleep late.”

Baekhyun regards him incredulously. “Didn’t you go out at night yesterday?”

Minseok is about to question Baekhyun on what he means when they’re interrupted by Jongdae coming out of the shower, whining about how they’ve eaten without him.

~

They end up being late when they go up to deck, Jongdae having forced them to get him more breakfast on account of their betrayal, and Minseok being too occupied with his headache to bother hurrying either of the two. They trudge lazily down the hall to find a large crowd of people already gathered on deck. They squeeze through till they can see what's happening.

They find the dark haired woman who had been the captain's shadow the night before in the center of the crowd. She sends a cursory glance and nod towards them but nothing more, and continues explaining the assigned task. Minseok remembers then Noah mentioning that their help on board was part of the payment and internally groans, not ready to exert the slightest effort with his headache.

It seems in the time it took them to get to deck, the woman, who introduced herself again to the late comers as Goiteía, the captain's first mate, had already separated the crowd by tasks. Some depend on parentage, like help in the engines which only the two lone Hephaestus kids on board are assigned; but most are generic tasks that even a mortal can do.

The trio stand awkwardly unsorted while everyone is already preparing to head to their assigned task. Minseok only hopes he doesn't get deck duty; his headache is already bad enough as is without having to work all day under the sun.

She regards them then, and firmly tells them only the deck cleaning team, kitchen duty team, and cargo stock team, are in need of more helping hands. She had a slight accent, but Minseok couldn’t pinpoint exactly where she is from.

"I don't care who goes where," she says, voice a stern tone, "but everyone should pull their weight on deck. And I would appreciate it if you weren’t late again."

Even through the intimidation, Minseok can't help but appreciate her leadership skills.

"I wonder where she's from," he tells Jongdae and Baekhyun when she's far enough. "Goiteía isn't a very asian name. It sounds greek?"

"I have no idea," Jongdae answers, eyes trailing after her with a furrow of his brows. "But I don't like her."

Minseok shrugs. "She seems stern, but not unlikable to me."

“Chiron is stern, she’s…” Jongdae trails off and merely shakes his head. "So how do we divide ourselves?"

"I'm taking deck cleaning!" Baekhyun announces first, surprising the other two into shock. That is until their eyes follow his gaze til they find the red haired girl from the night before in the deck cleaning team.

"I thought you'd been bewitched or something for a second there," jokes Jongdae. "Thought I was gonna have to go through actual trouble to get you back."

"Ehh," is all Baekhyun says, eyes finally straying from Red Hair's figure to land on Jongdae. Jongdae slaps his ass in reply, a mischievous half grin on his face.

"But didn't the captain say to stay away," interrupts Minseok.

Baekhyun shrugs. "He didn't say why." And his eyes are already skirting around Minseok again to land on Red Hair behind him.

Minseok sighs. "Whatever, I'm glad you took that anyway. My headache is killing me already, I can't imagine how much worse it would've been if I had stayed under the sun. Thank you."

Jongdae and Baekhyun look at him worriedly then. "Is it still that bad?" Asks Jongdae.

Minseok almost just wants to cry in response, with how painful his throbbing headache is. But he shrugs instead.

"Maybe you should take cargo stock," suggests Baekhyun. "It sounds less taxing, and I think the cargo hold is in the lower levels, where it's darker."

Minseok looks to Jongdae questioningly, wondering if he would be okay with that.

"I'm fine with kitchen duty," he says.

"Thank you," Minseok says sincerely to the two. He hasn't been the nicest to them, and yet they aren't treating him unkindly for it — even before he had apologized too.

"It's nothing." Baekhyun smiles at him.

They separate after that, when Goiteía calls for everyone to hurry to their task. Minseok sends Baekhyun and Jongdae a wave and more words of gratitude, before joining the cargo stock team.

He finds that his team is composed of about ten others, two of whom stand out because of their blue skin tone. Most of them seem to already know where they are headed — probably not their first day on deck, unlike himself — so he follows them quietly to the staircase he finds hidden right next to the entrance of the hall leading to the cabins. He passes Jongdae on the way, who’d found Sehun and Jongin on his team and is chatting with them as they take the stairs up, while Minseok takes them down.

When descending the stairs, he has a moment, where the sudden difference in lighting between the bright sun and the darkness of the stairs, causes his head to throb especially violently, vision going dark for a moment. He feels rapid images flash before his eyes, like fast paced deja vu, and blindly holds onto the banister before he falls down the stairs.

He feels hands on his arms steadying him, as the images move to a slower pace — a staircase very similar to this one, but darker, only lit by a torch descending down a few paces ahead that he's following — and eventually fade, and he regains his vision. He presses the heel of his palm to his head, as he looks to the owner of the hands on his arm.

He finds it's one of the naiads in his group. He quietly thanks her.

"Are you alright?" She asks, her brows pinched together in worry.

"I'm fine," he answers, blinking his eyes rapidly to adjust to the lighting. "Just have a killer headache." He tries to laugh it off. It doesn't work; she looks worried still.

"I'm Kianos," she introduces and reassures, "I'm gonna be right here next to you in case you feel faint again."

Minseok lets out another airy laugh, and finally takes the courage to step down the stairs, following the others.

"Thank you, Kianos, but I think I will be quite alright," he answers. "I'm Minseok, by the way."

She smiles at that. She has a nice smile, loosening the lines of worry on her face and making her seem extremely friendly. "Gonna be here anyway," she teases. "Nice to meet you, Minseok."

They make small talk as they head down the stairs, all the while Minseok's hand’s firmly on the banister just in case.

Through their talk, Minseok learns she is actually an oceanid, not a naiad.

“simple mistake,” she explains kindly, “naiads only reside in freshwater. Oceanids, on the other hand, reside in the ocean.”

“I did wonder what naiads would be doing on board, so far away from home,” he says after he’s apologized for his mistake.

Luckily, Minseok feels the throbbing echoes of his headache getting fainter the more he heads deeper into the darkness.

Once they've made it to the lowermost floor where the cargo hold is, Minseok finds it's much similar to the cabins hall and the dining hall in its endlessness. Once they've passed through the double doors, no matter which way Minseok looks, he can not see the end of the hold. Instead it's a maze of crates stretching endlessly, looking almost haunting in the darkness, the crates towering overhead. Minseok cranes his head back to find that the ceiling seems to stretch infinitely as well, crates piled into the dark obscurity of the vague almost-clouds of the ceiling. The higher Minseok looks, the more the crates seem curved inward together looking like they'd fall over his head.

Kianos calling his name brings him out of his wondering, but he can’t help but glance up every once in a while, paranoid the boxes will fall down on his head any minute. She hands him a clipboard, similar to the one she's holding. Next to her is the other oceanid Minseok had seen.

"This is órimos," she introduces. órimos stands a little taller than her and Minseok, but she sports an amiable smile similar to Kianos’ in its hospitality.

Minseok introduces himself again, then listens to the two as they explain to him how to take stock of the cargo. He looks down to his clipboard to find several sheets clipped on, all of them lists with checkboxes. His task is only to find and check off the items on the list.

Down in the cargo hold, even so close to the entrance, voices echo, adding to the overall haunting feeling of the place, and the two oceanids seem to be aware of that too, as they quickly part ways with Minseok once they point him to the section of his checklist, and speak no further.

At his section, he finds two other guys silently travelling between the rows to check items off their list. He looks around him to other sections to find everyone in a similar state of quiet. He looks to his clipboard and focuses on the task at hand.

On each crate is a label, and he only needs to match the labels to the list. But he finds a weird difficulty reading the labels, his dyslexia suddenly acting up. He thinks it might have to do with the faint headache which had receded to the back of his head, accompanied with the low lighting of the cargo hold. But he still tries to squint as best as he could, to get rid of the dancing spots obscuring his vision.

It takes him ten minutes to check the boxes off the first row of his list, which happened to be a single column of crates, thankfully the last one he had to check was level with his height and not the intimidating higher crates.

By the time he moves onto the second column, the two who had been in the same section as him had long since moved ahead. Minseok sighs, guessing he will be here a while.

He rests his head against the cool surface of the crate and tries to will his headache to fade entirely so he can better read the labels. Unfortunately, all of the labels are written in English, which is a lot harder on his dyslexia then Greek. At least it's not Korean, he thinks in the back of his mind, which would have given him a much harder time to read in the darkness.

He closes his eyes for a second and feels another fast flash of images — the crates a blur of bright and dull colors, blending together into a strange mix at the farthest point of his vision; following two figures deeper into the cargo hold, the darkness seeming alive and crawling around their silhouettes; fog so thick and deep, Minseok can't see beyond his hands — before he's regaining his bearings again.

He pulls away from the crate and shakes his head slightly. _There's something wrong with me_ , it comes as a realization in the back of his mind. The lines of the prophecy come back to him, and he remembers that it won't all be smooth sailing aboard the ship. He just hadn't expected it to start so soon.

Or it really is a normal headache and he's being paranoid, which he really hopes he is. But nonetheless, he moves onto the second column of crates, in a sudden rush to finish before he's left in the hold all alone. There's a growing ominous feeling in his chest, given away by the cloudy endlessness of the crates on the edges of Minseok's vision, the distant echoes he hears of others' conversations, the overall dimness of the setting, and with the recurring visions, it's all a little too much.

Fortunately, his headache has receded even further, aided by the dim lighting and lack of noise, and he finds himself able to read the labels of the crates with less difficulty. He is in momentary high spirits when he finds himself ticking off another row of checkboxes in less than five minutes, till he properly counts the pages on his clipboard to nine, each with five rows of checkboxes.

He almost slumps in defeat where he's standing. That's forty five columns he should be labeling. And Minseok guesses the last crate would be in the deep mist of the farthest point in Minseok's vision from where he's standing. He dreads having to go there, where he isn't sure he would even be able to find his way back.

He gives himself a tiny pep talk, mostly of him reminding himself that he doesn't want to be left behind, and continues onto the next column.

In the end, he does manage to catch up with the other two who had walked deeper ahead before. He had to face a few more blackouts of fast deja vu's that caused him to lose his bearings for a few seconds at a time, but he still manages to make it to the fourth page in time to catch up with the other two.

He syncs his pace with them from that point on, a comfortable, almost slow, rhythm. The two who had previously been a lot faster than he was, are now moving almost slower than he is along their respective rows of crates. He isn't entirely sure why, but he's thankful anyway, as he finds his dyslexia acting up again.

The deeper Minseok trudges into the hold, the more the ominous feeling in his heart grows. The crates, so high above his head, almost seem alive, following his movement, monitoring him. There's a chill down his spine that grows with every step, having him paranoidly checking behind his back every few seconds.

But despite how much he'd like to leave as fast as he can, curiosity is slowly overcoming him. It's an endless maze in the cargo hold, with all kinds of hidden artifacts and forgotten trinkets lying down around the boxes. By some of the columns he passes are open crates and discarded boxes, their contents spilling out. Inside, there is everything from broken toys to machinery parts that Minseok would have no hope of figuring out. The hephaestus kids would love it here.

When Minseok is on the end of his sixth page, he turns around to check he's still in pace with the other two guys. One of them, is two columns ahead, but the other, he finds, is a column behind. But what catches his interest is that the guy is shaking his head vigorously, leaning entirely way too close to the label on the crate. And Minseok immediately recognizes the movement as what he had been doing when his dyslexia was acting up.

"You alright there?" He calls, but immediately clamps his mouth shut when it echoes loudly around them. "Sorry," he mutters sheepishly, as his cheeks heat, when he notices both guys staring at him.

He slowly makes his way to the guy he was talking to instead. The guy stands a few inches taller than Minseok, with ashy blond hair which stands out in the darkness. And even in the dim lighting, Minseok can make out the softness of his features, and the symmetry of his face, his features giving his face an almost innocent look. _Must be a child of aphrodite_ , Minseok thinks.

"Are you alright?" Minseok repeats softly, and is happy when there's only a minimal faint echo around his words.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the guy says, shaking his head airily. "It's only my dyslexia."

"Oh, you too?"

The guy shrugs. "It usually acts up for all of us the deeper we go. I think it has to do with the darkness and well," he gestures vaguely around him. "Mist."

"oh, I'd thought it was my headache," Minseok mutters quietly.

"Headache?" The guy questions.

"I've had this killer headache since I woke up this morning," Minseok explains. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Luhan, son of hypnos," the guy grins, a sparkle of something in his eyes. And oh, he’s not a child of aphrodite? "Want help with your headache?"

"I was almost certain you were an aphrodite kid!” Minseok exclaims before introducing himself. “Minseok, son of boreas. And please," Minseok stretches the syllables of the last word to emphasize his relief and gratitude.

“I get that a lot,” Luhan chuckles. “I thought you were the aphrodite child though!”

“Nah,” Minseok shakes his head, a smile on his lips. “Only boreas.”

Luhan laughs at that. “Yeah, only hypnos. Now hold still please,” he says before he places one of his hands, the one not occupied with the clipboard, on the side of Minseok's head. Minseok has a moment where he thinks he was trusting a little too fast, but Luhan has already done his work. Minseok feels one final throb before it's all gone, his head feeling peaceful again.

Then the images start. Not a fast flash like before, gone in the blink of an eye. Instead, they settle in his brain, like memories, for him to look through any time he wishes.

He remembers now, though there's still a vague sheen of mist surrounding the memory, the faces of the two figures he was following. He remembers the tall intimidating heights of the captain and his first mate, out on deck in the dark after everyone has gone to sleep. He remembers heated words, that he can only hear muted, passing between the two of them.

He's brought out of his trance by Luhan's smooth voice. "It seems it wasn't a normal headache," he muses, traces of humor gone from his voice, though he still keeps his voice light. "Someone tampered with your memory."

Minseok blinks, mind still foggy with vague memories. "Did you see?" He asks. "The memories, I mean."

Luhan nods, solemnly.

"Do you know who tampered with it?"

"You'll know too, once you remember fully," Luhan says in reply. Then he looks around him as though fearful to be heard. "Be careful who you speak with about this."

Luhan sends him one more heavy look before he turns back to his clipboard. "I'll find you again later. When you've remembered." And with that he turns back to the task at hand.

Minsoek goes back to his own column of crates feeling more confused than ever. He feels the memories settling slowly in his brain, more and more information presented to him that he didn't know was missing.

The cargo hold is a blur from that point onward, Minseok so absorbed in his newly found memories, he loses his bearings almost worse than when he had felt faint with his headaches.

He understands now what Baekhyun had said about going out at night. Though he had no recollection of it this morning, he remembers now leaving their cabin late at night after the other two had almost fallen into sleep.

He remembers going out on deck to get the fresh air he needed only to stumble on the captain's fight with his first mate. He had immediately hid in the staircase which led down to the cargo hold, and sat down to listen, attentive and wary.

Goiteía had been standing her ground, arms crossed across her chest, and almost staring the captain down, glaring at him. Zitao on the other hand was pacing across the deck, loudly ranting before coming face to face with his mate to shout in her face.

"You can't do that to all the boys we have on deck!" He shouted. "Is it not enough where we're leading them? Do you have to feed on them too?" His voice got louder and louder the more vexed he was. But then he quieted and approached Goiteía suddenly, with a firmness in his footsteps, his voice going down to a menacing timbre. "Even draining them in some cases?"

Goiteía didn’t even flinch. "We do not do this for pleasure, and you know that well, it's the only way to sustain our life force." Then she smirked. "However, even if it were for pleasure, I still would not stop."

Zitao let out an angered sound in response and paced away again. "I can't believe you!" He vexed.

Goiteía finally moved then, rolling her eyes and loosening her arms. "Are you done? We have more important matters to attend to."

"No, I am not done!" He yelled, halting in his pacing suddenly. Minseok could almost see the anger rolling off him in waves. But then he calmed, as abruptly as he had turned, quietly approaching Goiteía.

"How about a deal?" He suggested, "feed on me instead, and leave the new boys alone."

Goiteía scoffed at that. "You alone can not even hope to sustain one of us. Plus, the ship needs its captain."

He rolled his eyes at that. "Yeah, of course, otherwise people would catch on a lot faster," he said, sarcasm thick in his words.

"Enough of this!" Goiteía said, and Minseok felt something in her tone change. Zitao immediately quieted, looking at her attentively.

"Follow me," she said. They both turned around, heading to the staircase where Minseok is hiding. He scrambled to climb a few steps and hid just in time to see them descending where he was moments ago.

Charmspeak, Minseok realized when he sees the previously rowdy captain following so obediently.

He remembers now, visiting the cargo hold before. Remembers following the two down the dark staircase with nothing but a lit torch in Goiteía's hand to combat the darkness. The cargo hold was a lot creepier at night than during the day, the fog surrounding the edges of the hold seeming alive and swirling.

He had followed them a safe distance away, hiding between corridors and crates and trying not to lose sight of the two figures in the fog.

He couldn't hear their voices up ahead, only their resounding footsteps. A few times too many, he felt like he lost the duo altogether, surrounded by similar looking crates on all sides, stretching into infinity on all edges of his vision and feeling almost watchful of Minseok's every step. He had long since lost his bearings, not sure where is right or left, which way he had come from and which way Goiteía led Zitao to.

He blindly followed their echoing footsteps and hoped he's going in the right direction. Minseok felt the fear and anxiety swirling into a steady mix in his chest the longer he walked, the echoes coming from almost all directions and the shadows making semi formed terrifying mirages.

His steps grew more frantic the longer he spent time down there, slowly realizing he was lost. He started turning corners at random, following the vague distant echoes, hoping he was going in the right direction.

And eventually, as to be expected, he got caught, walking right into Goiteía's waiting figure. Turned a corner too fast, franticness in the constant turn of his head, eyes on the watchful crates, ears on the distant echoes, and he hadn't seen where he was going.

He immediately took a fearful step back, looking up at her stoic expression and wondering if he should run or fight. She'd simply regarded him for a moment and turned to Zitao.

"Stay here," she said, and Minseok felt the command ringing in his own head as well, feet suddenly planted where they are.

She moved towards Minseok, taking his arm and dragging him the opposite direction he had come from.

"You shouldn't be here," she reprimanded, tone almost deadpan, as she continues to lead him out.

Once they were standing back at the doorway, after too many turns and twists that Minseok had no hope of memorizing to find the captain again, she turned to him again, placing a hand on either side of his head, and Minseok finds he remembers no more.

He snaps out of it then, finally coming back to himself. He feels the disorientation and fear still resounding in his bones, and he shakes his head to try to shake himself out of it. His clipboard is hanging almost limply from his hand, and he finds himself staring absentmindedly at the crates in front of him.

He turns his head to look down the end of the cargo hold, down where the fog is thickest, where he's sure he was lost last night. He wonders what Goiteía had wanted with the captain that can only be done there.

A soft "alright there?" Breaks him out of his stupor, and he almost jumps out of his skin when he finds Luhan next to him, a concerned furrow in his brows. Minseok frantically nods his head in reply.

Luhan takes his clipboard and ticks off the remaining checkboxes, only four on the last page, before taking his arm much the same way Goiteía had. Minseok almost flinches out of his hold, staring wide eyed at him.

"C'mon," says Luhan, dragging him the way they had come. Minseok regains enough of his bearings to get out of the hold Luhan has on his arm, uncomfortable, with the memories so fresh in his mind still. Luhan doesn't comment on it, simply throwing both their clipboards on a low crate by the side of the door where the other clipboards are and leads him out. Minseok only notices, then, the absence of everyone else, when the clipboards echo loud through the hold, and Minseok turns instinctively, frantically, wary of the attention, but they’re alone in the hold.

Luhan leads him up at the staircase, walking a small distance behind. He keeps continuously asking Minseok if he's alright, gently touching his back or shoulder whenever Minseok gets a little too lost in memories, and Minseok almost feels uncomfortable with the attention.

It's when they make it back, Minseok feeling disoriented with the change of scenery and surprised to find the sun already set, the deep oranges of the sky coloring the sea in a mesmerizing mixture of colors, that Luhan asks him if they should talk in his cabin.

Minseok stares at the horizon of the ocean instead. He hadn't realized they spent that much time down in the cargo hold, thinking it was only an hour or two, but it must've been at least six hours. Luhan nudges his shoulder when Minseok doesn't respond for too long, yet Minseok doesn’t know what to respond with, suddenly feeling lost; in his own head, in the memories, in thoughts of the quest.

"I have to warn them," Minseok says instead, eyes still on the horizon. He has no idea what Goiteía meant by "sustaining their life force by feeding" or who she even was talking about, but there's a cloudy lingering feeling in his chest that has him in a hurry to find Baekhyun and Jongdae as soon as he can.

"Who?" Luhan asks, confusedly, and Minseok almost detects a hint of annoyance in his voice that even further dims Minseok’s despondent mood.

Minseok checks the time. It's 6:14 pm.

"I didn't come here alone," he explains hurriedly to Luhan. "How about we meet at dinner? I gotta find them first!" And with that he takes off. He hears a "wait!" behind him, but he doesn't look back, even when he feels Luhan's hurried footsteps behind him.

"I'm coming with you," Luhan explains. "I came alone anyway, and there's something about this ship that's just," he trails off, shivering visibly instead.

“If you’re sure,” Minseok says, slowing down his pace the slightest bit so Luhan can catch up. He feels a weird swirling mixture of anxiety and paranoia in his gut; wanting to keep Luhan away and not trust him too deeply, but wanting to keep him close so Minseok’s never lost too long in his own thoughts.

Minseok looks around him, on deck, where he had left Baekhyun, but there’s no trace of the deck cleaning team there, only wanderers and sightsee-ers, standing against the railing of the ship, languidly enjoying the evening breeze and sights.

And it hits Minseok, in this vast, vast ship that he's only been on for a day, most of it undiscovered, and the discovered parts still nothing but a hazy maze in his mind, he's not sure where he would find Baekhyun. He feels lost, and overwhelmed, a sense of panic slowly infusing in his footsteps as he wanders aimlessly around the deck.

Deep breaths, he reminds himself, and forces himself to calm down. He focus on the wind ruffling through his hair, and the almost darkness, only lit by the sun's last dying rays, across the ocean floor.

Once he feels the world spinning less frantically around him, he decides to head to their cabin, where he hopes Baekhyun and Jongdae would be.

"Baekhyun was on deck cleaning team, but they're all gone, they must've already been done," Minseok mutters. He's mostly talking to himself, Luhan barely keeping pace with his frantic footsteps as he runs to their shared cabin.

Except when he bursts through the door, door slamming against the wall with the force he pushed it, the cabin is the same as they left it this morning. Jongdae's coffee cup still thrown on the coffee table, their clothes haphazardly thrown over the unmade beds, and no one occupying the cabin. Minseok's mind starts spinning with possibilities of where the two could possibly be.

"Dude, you gotta calm down," comes Luhan behind him, panting slightly as he'd run after Minseok's brisk walk all the way down to their cabin. "They're gonna be alright; you saw them this morning, didn't you?"

Minseok turns to him, accidentally cornering him against the wall next to the door. "You saw the memories too, didn't you? You heard what she said, and she knows I heard her too."

He turns away with that, running down the cabins hall, before he could hear Luhan’s reply. "You don't know what could possibly happen, I need to find them," he stresses.

He can hear Luhan groaning as he follows him. "You're overreacting, man, chill, they're gonna be fine!"

Minseok turns back on him at that. There are words and anger and turmoil hanging on the tip of his tongue, but he holds them all in. Instead he just glares at Luhan, and grits his teeth. "Don't tell me to chill. I'm not overreacting.” He looks away from Luhan for a moment, sighing in an attempt to calm himself, before he explains, "we came here on a prophecy, and you never know what could happen with these things."

Luhan's eyes widen at that. Minseok doesn't wait for him to respond, blindly tearing back down the hall.

"Listen, I'm sorry, dude," Luhan calls after him, falling back in step with him. "We're gonna find them."

Minseok nods, accepting Luhan's apology silently. In his blind tirade, he passes by the loud business of the dining hall, double doors wide open with sight and color. He stops in his tracks and peers inside, but there are far too many people to be able to make out a single person.

He backtracks and starts down into the dining hall instead, skirting the edge in hopes to be able to make his way around the entire hall. He feels the world spinning as his panic catches him up to him the longer he runs into people he doesn't recognize.

He ends up finding Baekhyun at a table close to the farthest window, and he breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of him. Until he notices he's sitting with the girl he had been staring at last night as well as this morning. Minseok’s brisk hurried pace falters, the captain's warning suddenly ringing clear in his head. He hurries over to Baekhyun with more urgency.

"Baekhyun!" he calls, "hey, dude, I need to talk to you."

Baekhyun, Minseok notices, almost has trouble keeping his eyes off the girl next to him, looking up at Minseok with a lingering rosiness over his cheeks, and lingering words of his conversation on his tongue.

"Yeah, sup?"

"Alone," Minseok emphasizes.

Baekhyun frowns. "Can't we talk after dinner?" Minseok notices then, Baekhyun's hand which has snaked its way into the girl’s.

"No, it's important," says Minseok, but when Baekhyun shows no sign of wanting to move, simply looking up at him passively, he adds. "Please."

Baekhyun sighs dramatically, making a show of his reluctance as he detaches his hand from the girl's. He smiles down at her, and Minseok could almost see literal stars in his eyes. "I'll be back in a moment."

Red hair nods, smiling with her hand lingering on his for bare moments before he finally lets go.

Minseok wastes no time in taking a hold of Baekhyun's hand once he has left his seat, and it seems to startle him for a moment, breaking him out of his stupor. He looks up at Minseok, the dazed look in his eyes gone momentarily as he asks Minseok, "what's up?"

"Not here," Minseok intones, as he drags Baekhyun out of the hall. Baekhyun seems to realize where they're going and struggles in Minseok's hold, digging his feet where he walks so he’s slowing Minseok down.

"Ay, dude, can't we talk later?" Says Baekhyun, looking back at where he left red hair. "I can't keep Dru waiting long."

"No, it's important," intones Minseok.

"Yeah, I wouldn't suggest you go back there," says Luhan.

Baekhyun notices him then, frowning. "And who are you?"

"Luhan, son of hypnos," Luhan easily introduces.

"Right," Baekhyun says absentmindedly before turning to Minseok, who's briskly weaving between the throngs of people to lead them out of the dining hall."You really better be quick, Minseok, I've got a date to catch,” Baekhyun warns with his eyes firmly set behind him where he left red hair, as Minseok swiftly pulls him out the dining hall and down the cabins hallway.

Minseok winces. "Maybe not."

Baekhyun manages to squeeze his hand out of Minseok's grip but falls a few steps behind Minseok anyway. "Eh, now, what do you mean?"

"Remember the captain's warning?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Baekhyun asks indignantly.

"it has to do with everything," replies Minseok. "But not here, need somewhere private."

"why? What is it?" Baekhyun asks, impatience bleeding into his voice. "Just say it, man."

"Have you seen Jongdae?" Minseok asks instead as he pushes the door to their cabin open, Baekhyun and Luhan following inside before he closes the door. Luhan immediately makes himself comfortable on the beds. Baekhyun and Minseok, on the other hand, remain standing.

Baekhyun frowns. "No, I haven't, why?"

Minseok frowns. “Were you done with deck duty first?” 

Baekhyun shrugs. “I don’t know, man, I didn’t notice.” 

Minseok looks at him skeptically. “What do you mean you didn’t notice?” 

“Well, you see,” Baekhyun reasons, going over to sit next to Luhan on the bed. “I was a little busy.” 

“With what?” Minseok asks, eyes wide in disbelief.

“I had a date…” Baekhyun explains.

”A date!” exclaims Minseok, incredulous. "And you didn't bother looking for Jongdae?"

"I'm not his mother!" Baekhyun replies. "What's up though?"

Minseok scowls, but chooses not to comment. "He was with kitchen duties, wasn't he? And dinner's already started; you sure you haven't seen him?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Baekhyun answers. "Did you really interrupt my date just to ask about Jongdae?"

Minseok sighs exasperatedly. "We're on a quest, Baekhyun, we gotta stay on track! Not going on dates!"

"Fuck the quest, I never wanted to go to begin with." Baekhyun rolls his eyes.

Minseok turns on Baekhyun abruptly, shock written all over his face, as Luhan lets out a low whistle.

Baekhyun meekly shrugs his shoulders. "Okay, sorry, I didn't mean that."

When Minseok doesn't reply, and Luhan lowly comments, "you really fucked up there, dude." Baekhyun backtracks.

"I said I'm sorry, c'mon! Yes, quest, important, what did you want to talk about?"

"I can't believe you right now," deadpans Minseok.

"C'mon, Minseok," tries Baekhyun quietly, a look akin to a kicked puppy on his face.

Minseok lets out a long sigh, facing the ceiling before he looks at Baekhyun again.

"Right, remember this morning, you said I went out last night, didn't you?"

Baekhyun nods, frowning confusedly.

"And I didn't know what you meant then, because I had no memory of it."

"You didn't? What do you mean?"

"No, I didn't. You see, turns out the killer headache I had really wasn't a normal one. Someone tampered with my memory, that's why it was affecting me so bad."

Baekhyun's eyes considerably widen as he takes in the information. "And how did you find out?"

"That's where Luhan comes in," Minseok explains.

"Son of hypnos," Luhan reminds Baekhyun, grinning at him.

Minseok then fills Baekhyun in on what he had seen exactly and what he had heard, Luhan occasionally butting in with other details. Baekhyun's face goes through a variety of expressions as he listens, but mostly there's a frown that's becoming more evident the more he listens.

"Remember the lines of the prophecy said it won't all be smooth sailing aboard the ship, that's why we really need to find Jongdae asap,” Minseok finishes.

"And you helped him recover all this?" Baekhyun asks slowly, addressing Luhan.

Luhan nods.

"So, let me get this straight, you're saying the scary first mate is like a vampire or some shit and she has control over the captain?" Baekhyun reiterates.

"Yeah, basically. It seems she's not alone though. She also seems to have control over the whole ship, not just the captain,” Luhan answers instead.

"Well, yeah, the captain, his ship. Same thing," says Baekhyun. "What does that have to do with us, though? We'll be off the ship in a few days, we can just lie low."

Minseok considers for a moment. "I don't think we can do that. The captain mentioned something about 'leading us' somewhere, " he says with the air quotations. "And to be honest, I don’t wanna wait around to find out. Plus, remember the prophecy, Baekhyun."

Baekhyun leans back on his hands. "I'm still not entirely convinced about that prophecy thing when I don't understand half of it."

Minseok chooses to ignore that comment, rolling his eyes instead, while Luhan coughs to hide a chuckle. "Whatever, we still need to find Jongdae."

Baekhyun stands up then. "Dude, you really had me scared, thinking something happened to Jongdae or whatever. But yeah, let's find Jongdae, tell him, and that's that. For now I have a date to catch!" He strides towards the door.

"Baekhyun, wait!" Warns Minseok, running after Baekhyun, managing to catch his shoulder before he makes it out the door. “Let’s please find Jongdae first, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Baekhyun turns around with a tired sigh on his lips. “C’mon, dude, i’m sure he’s gone off to explore or something; it’s a pretty huge ship. Let me catch my date.”

"but that's exactly what you shouldn't do,” Minseok tries instead, “you can’t trust whatever her name was.”

Baekhyun exasperatedly rolls his eyes. "And why is that?"

"Remember the captain's warning yesterday? His conversation with Goiteía is probably exactly what he meant,” he firmly points.

"That's a load of bull, and you know it," scoffs Baekhyun. "If anything, I have to warn Dru too."

“Baekhyun, the captain specifically said feeding on boys; she isn't in any danger, you are. And for all you know, she really would ‘feed’ on you,” Minseok says, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

“Well, if,” he emphasizes with a piercing gaze directed at Minseok, “she really is what you say she is, that’s on me then, I can take care of myself,” says Baekhyun, turning away from Minseok again and heading for the door.

Minseok follows, getting a hold of Baekhyun’s arm. “Like hell you do!”

Baekhyun wrenches his arm out of Minseok’s hold and pushes him out of his personal space. “You're not my mother! Whether I can take care of myself or not is none of your business! Just fuck off with your quest and your superiority.”

Minseok stumbles back a few steps, feeling hurt. Is that really what Baekhyun thought of him? He stares speechless, unseeing, at Baekhyun as the frown on Baekhyun’s face deepens. Minseok can’t read Baekhyun’s face at all, totally closed off and so unlike the person with endless smiles Minseok had known just this morning, and it somehow hurts deeper.

“whatever,” Baekhyun says, turning away again, and it prompts Minseok into motion again.

“Baekhyun!” He calls, desperate to keep Baekhyun from leaving, and putting his feelings of hurt aside to think of later. “Quest or no quest, this ship and the people on it are dangerous! You should be careful choosing who to trust!”

“Are you even hearing yourself! How do you know he,” pointing at Luhan who had silently been staring wide eyed between the two of them as the fight progresses, “isn't the one who messed with your memory? Why do you get to decide who's trustworthy and who isn't!” Explodes Baekhyun, turning back on Minseok.

“Are you listening!” Minseok yells, “why are you trying to make me the villain in this! I'm only trying to protect you!”

“There's nothing to protect me from! And I can protect myself fine, thank you very much.”

“That's not the point here! Please, listen, baek. She's dangerous; you gotta stay away.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU DON’T HAVE IT ALL WRONG?!”

Minseok lets out a sound of anger, and frantically paces a few steps till he's standing level with Baekhyun again, as Baekhyun heaves angrily after his outburst.

“Just, listen, baek—”

“I'm not listening anymore, there's nothing to listen to,” Baekhyun interrupts, running out the cabin door before Minseok can catch up.

Minseok lets out an angry muted scream and flops on the bed next to Luhan, who immediately scoots away.

“Well, that was an intense,” Luhan comments to a Minseok who’s buried face down in the sheets. Minseok doesn’t reply.

~

The cloud hanging over Minseok only gets darker post fight. He grumbles something about wanting to wash his face to a dazed Luhan and escapes into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, in which he thoroughly washed his face, thought the fight through, came to no conclusions but the fact that his face is inexplicably red, he comes out to a Luhan eating the extra croissant they left on the coffee table this morning.

"This thing dried up," he comments, scrunching his nose in distaste.

Minseok doesn't reply, only picks a jacket from his pack and turns to the door. "I'm gonna go look for Jongdae."

"Wait up!" And Luhan is by his side in seconds.

Minseok regards him skeptically. "Why are you still sticking around? Shouldn't that," he tilts his head back a little in indication of his fight with Baekhyun, "have scared you away?"

Luhan shrugs. "There's no one else on board with a quest and a prophecy. You're my best bet to figure out what's really going on."

Minseok hums in reply.

They make their way back on deck, and start there. Minseok is yet again aware of how little of the ship he knows, but he feels calmer than he was before, or number. Either way, it helps him think a little clearer.

He heads towards the stairs he'd seen Jongdae take up to the kitchens.

"How long have you been on the ship?" He asks Luhan.

"Long enough," Luhan answers. "Why?"

"Do you know where the kitchen is?"

"Yup," Luhan says emphatically, and takes a few steps in front of Minseok as he leads him up. "They usually don't allow people in there after work hours though."

"Doesn't hurt to give it a try anyway."

It's two doors down a small hall, unlike the endlessness of the cabin's hall. Minseok can see the end of the hall with the emergency exit sign pointing at another set of stairs.

Luhan peeks through the round glass window in the door. "I don't see your friend," he says.

"Do you even know what my friend looks like?"

Luhan abruptly jerks away from the door and freezes, as though caught red handed.

He lightly chuckles, stepping away. "You caught me there," he says with a ghost of his playful mischievous grin, gesturing for Minseok with his hand to take a look instead.

Minseok regards him suspiciously instead. "How do you know what Jongdae looks like?"

"I don't," Luhan answers easily. "I was just messing with you."

Minseok takes a step towards Luhan. "What are you hiding?"

Luhan takes a step back. "Nothing! I really was just joking, alright?" A nervous chuckle leaves him.

"Baekhyun was right, how do I know you're who I should be trusting?"

"Minseok, I swear to the gods, I'm not hiding anything!"

Minseok winces. "The gods are gonna strike this ship down for that lie."

"I'm not lying!"

"Then what are you not telling me?" Minseok insists.

"We just met!" Luhan protests, leaning away from Minseok who has gotten incredibly close. "Why do I gotta tell you everything?"

"At least tell me how you know what Jongdae looks like. You've never met him."

"Fine!" Luhan says, vexed, before sighing. "I astral project, alright? I didn't see your memories either, I was there yesterday when you followed the captain and his first mate."

Minseok's eyes widen at that, and he takes an involuntary step back.

"you astral project," Minseok slowly reiterates. "You were there last night."

"Yes," Luhan impatiently answers.

"Why were you there? What were you doing there?"

Luhan sighs, exasperatedly turning around with his hands dragging down his face, before turning back to Minseok.

"What were _you_ doing there?" He asks instead.

"I just wanted some fresh air," Minseok replies.

"Well, I wanted fresh air, too.”

“So you astral projected,” Minseok deadpans, unimpressed

“yes.” Luhan crosses his arms across his chest in challenge.

“how long have you been astral projecting?”

“Why is this,” yells Luhan before reducing his voice to a whisper after a wary look at the kitchens. “Why is this turning into a questioning?”

“How do I know it isn't as Baekhyun said and you're the one who altered my memory for whatever reason,” Minseok crosses his own arms across his chest, “you are giving me very little reason to trust you.”

“Fine, whatever,” Luhan seethes, marching away, “don't trust me, but when Goiteía comes after you and your friends, don't come asking for my help.”

Minseok has but a moment to panic before he finds himself flying after Luhan's retreating figure.

They're at the top of the stairs when they come face to face with Goiteía, who's ascending them. Their steps immediately halt in their hurry.

"What are you boys doing here?" she asks, once she's standing on the top step too. "This section of the ship is allowed for staff only, except during work hours."

"We were just leaving," Luhan immediately answers, determinedly going down. But Minseok feels a weird sense of boldness come to him.

"I was looking for Jongdae, who was assigned kitchen duty this morning," Minseok says, and he feels a weird sense of relief when he sees Luhan halt in his footsteps. "I can't seem to find him anywhere, so I was wondering if the kitchen team are still working."

Goiteía’s piercing gaze, which was on Luhan, settles on Minseok instead.

"Work hours have long since ended. It's dinner time now, you would have better luck looking for him in the dining hall. However, the next time you can't find your friend, you would do better to come ask me or the captain first before wandering into restricted areas of the ship."

"Well. I'm asking you now," Minseok continues, ignoring Luhan pinching his side in warning. "He's not in the dining hall either, so I wanted to know where he would be."

"I'm afraid I have not seen your friend," Goiteía not very patiently explains. "You are free to look for him in the unrestricted areas of the ship."

"But what if he's in a restricted area?"

"We're sorry for the inconvenience, ma'am!" Luhan interrupts, forcefully dragging Minseok down the stairs. "We'll be careful while looking for him."

"I better not find either of you in anymore restricted areas," Goiteía warns as they're descending the stairs.

"what was that back there?!" Luhan exclaims once they're back on deck, far enough from Goiteía.

"I just wanted to see her reaction!" Minseok reasons.

Luhan scoffs. "What purpose would that serve but make you climb higher on her kill list?"

"C'mon, I wasn't that bad," Minseok tries.

Luhan only regards him incredulously.

"Right?" asks Minseok.

Luhan only shakes his head.

Minseok sighs. "But at least I wasn't that suspicious? I didn't have a horrible opinion of her before I got my memory, and wouldn't have been afraid to talk to her."

"Right," Luhan deadpans. "Not suspicious at all."

“fine, whatever,” huffs Minseok. They quite for a moment before Minseok starts quietly, “i'm glad you didn't really leave.”

Luhan laughs. “Not accusing me of things anymore?”

“I'm sorry, okay!” Minseok says, “I can't help it, everything on this ship is making me paranoid.”

Luhan lets out a small sigh, more a sound of resignation in the cool air than anything. “I understand, I felt the same when I first boarded.”

Luhan stops in his tracks suddenly, and turns around to face Minseok. “Will you let me,” he asks letting his hand hang next to Minseok's temple. “There's something I want to show you.”

Minseok stares at him warily for a moment, before hastily nodding.

The memories start rapidly again.

_He's boarding the ship, greeting Noah and getting a key to a cabin, but Jongdae and Baekhyun are not by his side. Minseok realizes these are Luhan's memories, not his own._

_He's talking to the captain, his first mate an ever present shadow behind him. There's something dark in her eyes as Zitao's casually talking about the history of the ship and the demigods who boarded. Luhan has his eyes fixed on Goiteía instead of Zitao, and she notices, returning his gaze unrelentlessly._

_Luhan notices when Goiteía smiles at Zitao halting his conversation, just as he was talking about the children of the big three they've had on the ship before. Luhan only caught that they've had a mere number of three of them before Goiteía cut him off, reminding him of something he's late to._

_Minseok sees Sehun and Jongin, whom minsek met the night before, as well as other crew members, standing with Luhan. They're bad mouthing Goiteía, glaring daggers at her back as she talks to Zitao. They're somewhere mineok hasn't been to, but recognizes as the kitchens._

_"she's using Zitao as her puppet," one guy says, a look of utter disdain on her face._

_"More like sucking the life out of him," another answers, "I've only ever seen him angry when he's with her."_

_"Why does he have her as a first mate anyway?" Asks Sehun._

_"He hasn't always," the first guy answers. "He had another first mate years ago, before you got here. But he died, fighting a sea monster. Protected the ship. And she's been here ever since."_

_“But why did he stick with her,” persists Sehun_

_Someone new comes running to the group before anyone answers Sehun, walking through where Luhan supposedly stands. Astral projection, Minseok realizes. Luhan is not physically there. The newcomer looks once over his shoulder before turning back to the group._

_"She wants to reduce work hours," he proclaims. "For a week, she says."_

_"The bitch grew a heart?" Someone who hasn’t spoken before asks, incredulous._

_"I don't even know what goes on in her head, dude," the newcomer replies._

_"Why, for a week though?” Jongin asks._

_The newcomer shrugs. "The captain has been grilling her on why, but it's as you see."_

_Behind them, the captain and his first mate are very aggressively gesturing in the air as they fight._

_“Why is Zitao against it?” asks the guy who had explained what happened to the previous first mate._

_“Zitao isn't against it, he doesn't understand it.”_

_“Weird,” Jongin says, “but whatever,” he grins, “reduced work hours, im all for it.”_

_The scene changes and Minseok witnesses a fight this time. It's in a room Minseok has not seen before. It looks like the captain's own quarters. Around him, he can see maps on a desk, the captain and his first mate sitting at a round table with coffee mugs and breakfast in front of them. They seem to be in the middle of a tense argument, as they always are whenever Minseok has seen them. At the far end, there's a door which Minseok assumes leads to the captain's room._

_Chaos unfolds with the door to the room bursting open, and in marches the guy Minseok recognizes as the one who had explained to Sehun about the captain's previous first mate, anger on his face beyond anything Minseok has ever seen._

_"Are you going to explain what happened to Eli?" He vents, directed at Goiteía._

_Goiteía slowly, almost leisurely, breaks her gaze away from the stare off with Zitao._

_"What is it, now?" She asks, exasperation dripping from her voice._

_"Eli disappeared," the guy explains in faux patience. "We're in the middle of the ocean, he can't have jumped off the ship, can he?"_

_"How does that concern me?" She replies, "maybe he's gone off to elope with Naomi. He's your friend, shouldn't you be more aware with what's going on with him." It's rhetorical, and condescending. In the next moment the guy is already standing over where Goiteía sits._

_"Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't know Naomi is in on whatever it is you're doing? I'm here precisely because I know he's off with naomi and I want to know what you've done to him," he seethes._

_Goiteía simply rolls her eyes in reply. "Well, if you are as smart as you imply, why did you ever think coming here would help you in the slightest. I would appreciate you go look for Eli elsewhere more useful. Go look for Naomi and ask her."_

_The guy looks at Goiteía with a look of utter disgust on his face before turning to Zitao instead._

_"Are you just going to sit still, captain?" He asks, "just gonna quietly let her take more and more of the crew to wherever she sends them?"_

_Zitao simply averts his gaze, not contributing to the fight._

_"Dylan, Sam, Daniel, Amy, Soreía, Jacob," the guy lists on his fingers. "And now Eli too, and you're just going to sit still as more and more of the crew mysteriously disappear. I know you know where they went, captain."_

_"Have those not chosen to go their own way," interrupts Goiteía. "Why are you bringing them up?"_

_"I know they didn't just choose to go their own way," the guy insists, "I know you've done something to them, and I will find out."_

_"Get out," Goiteía says, and Minseok immediately detects the change in her voice. "Don't look for Eli, and forget everything you have found so far."_

_With the next change of scene, Minseok sees himself, Jongdae, and Baekhyun in the dining hall. He sees the captain and his mate coming to join them at the table. It's Luhan's vision instead, not his own, so he finds himself paying a lot more attention to Goiteía this time around, following her gaze as it lands on each one of them, and settles on Jongdae._

_Next, he sees Goiteía following Zitao as he talks to Baekhyun. He sees her calling him back._

_"Do not meddle," she warns before marching off._

_Then, he again hears Zitao’s loud voice as he argues with Goiteía on deck. As Luhan, he stands almost right next to Zitao, the words of the argument echoing much louder than when he heard them the night before._

Minseok breaks out of it to find Luhan staring intently at him, almost worry between his eyes.

Luhan gives him a solemn look. “It’s been happening for weeks, apparently. Maybe even years.” 

And it incites a sense of worry and panic in Minseok. "I need to find Jongdae."

Luhan easily falls into step with Minseok’s hurried footsteps as the make their way down the cabins hall. Somehow Minseok feels a weird sense of relief and comfort at having Luhan by his side, this time around.

They make it to the dining hall in almost no time, where Minseok tries again to scan for Jongdae's familiar face. It has gotten a lot more rowdy and crowded since Minseok was last here, people occupying almost every inch.

"Hopefully, we'll find Jongdae in this mess," Minseok mutters as he leaves the threshold and treads deeper inside. He follows the same strategy he did last time and skirts the edge, in hopes of being able to see the most of the hall.

He's stopped when he passes the first table, though, by a Luhan who's picking up a plate with his attention very focused on the food.

"I don't know about you, but im starving," Luhan proclaims.

Minseok swallows a huff and picks up a plate too instead. He slowly makes his way next to Luhan as they fill their plates, with only a quarter of his focus on the food, his eyes on the crowd instead.

His eyes land on Baekhyun, right where he first found him, planted next to Red Hair and his eyes firmly on hers. There's a smile shyly playing on his lips while the food in front of him sits forgotten. Minseok frowns. Did he really forget their fight that easily?

Minseok stubbornly looks away to the food in front of him instead. He haphazardly piles some pasta and pizza on his plate and moves onto the next table, his eyes back on the crowd to resume his search.

There's myriad of people across the hall, demigods of different ethnicities, satyrs, and what Minseok learned is oceanids. The colors and noises are admittedly making his head spin.

His eyes almost skip past the table they sat in yesterday, before darting back at the sight of familiar faces, and feels sudden remembrance, then relief course through him when he sees Sehun and Jongin sitting there.

He takes his remarkably empty plate and marches in that direction, calling for Luhan behind him to follow. He's certain he had seen Sehun and Jongin on the kitchen team with Jongdae this morning, and feels hopeful that they would know where he is.

The duo easily, even enthusiastically, welcome Minseok once he takes his seat next to them. They welcome Luhan too, who Minseok didn't even have to introduce as they apparently already knew him, once they take notice of him as well.

Minseok jumps right to the point once he's comfortably settled in his seat. "You two had kitchen duty today, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we did," answers Sehun.

“Have you seen Jongdae?” Minseok asks.

“Jongdae?” Jongin frowns, while very unsubtly eyeing Minseok's nearly empty plate. “Why would we have seen him?”

Minseok tilts his head in confusion. “He was on kitchen duty too today, wasn't he?”

Sehun turns away from the rice he was pushing around his plate. “No, he wasn't.”

“What do you mean he wasn't?” Minseok counters. Luhan looks up from his full plate too.

“We would've seen him if he was there,” Jongin shrugs, taking a big bite off his pizza slice.

“but I was there this morning when we assigned tasks,” Minseok explains. “He took kitchen duty.”

Jongin looks at him skeptically, answering as he chews. “Maybe you got it mixed up or something. Jongdae wasn't there.”

“You mean you didn't see him in the kitchen at all, or was he there then left, or?” Luhan prompts.

“We didn't see him today at all,” Sehun shrugs. “Saw Baekhyun though,” and he tilts his head back, eyeing Baekhyun who was sitting a few tables away, still deeply engrossed in his conversation with Red Hair. “He didn’t say hi.” There’s an almost imperceptible pout on his face then.

“How come you didn't see him?” Minseok argues, voice growing rapid with anxiety. He had held a bit of foolish hope till that point that maybe Jongdae was simply lost somewhere on the ship. “I saw the three of you talking this morning on your way to the kitchens.”

Sehun looks back at him, with a look of utter confusion. “But I didn't see him today?”

“No, wait, yeah,” Jongin interrupts. “We did see him on our way to the kitchens, but he wasn't on kitchen duty.”

Sehun directs the look at Jongin instead. “What do you mean? I didn't see him today.”

“No, dude, remember, we were climbing the stairs together.”

Sehun furrows his brow and doesn't reply, intently staring at his plate instead.

“Do you know where he was going then?” Minseok frantically asks. “He was supposed to be on kitchen duty.”

“Nah, man, he didn't mention.” Jongin casually shrugs, taking a spoonful of stew first before speaking again. “We just separated at the top of the stairs.”

Minseok looks to Luhan. “What other facilities are on that floor?”

Luhan furrows his brow in concentration, leaning a little from the table and letting go of his chopsticks. “There's the kitchens, food storage, one of the communal showers, medical bay,” he counts on his fingers. “But he cant have been working anywhere but the kitchens.”

“Are you sure Jongdae wasn't in the kitchens?” repeats Minseok.

“Nope,” Jongin says, popping the p.

“Wait, wasn't he washing the dishes with me,” questions Sehun, turning to Jongin with a frown. “Wasn't I talking to him?”

Jongin turns to him with a frown of his own. “He wasn't there, dude, I could see you from where I was, and you were only with Isaac.” And Minseok feels like tearing his hair out, but he decides to take a bite of his food instead.

“Really?” Sehun asks, though he sounds unsure. “I could've sworn he was there.”

“Jongdae was definitely there, he couldn't have gone anywhere else, he's not the type,” Minseok firmly says. “I just wanna know who he was working alongside.”

“Definitely not us,” Jongin easily proclaims.

Minseok pauses and takes a deep breath. “Okay, who's Isaac you were talking about? Point me in his direction please.”

Jongin points him a few tables down. “Tall dude, blond, and muscly.”

“Alright,” Minseok says and almost leaves the table, but Luhan clings to his bicep, dragging him back.

“Are you sure he wasn't there, Jongin?” He can hear Sehun harshly whispering, “I feel like he was definitely there.”

“You keep saying that about people, Hun,” Jongin quietly replies, looking at Sehun worriedly. “But I’m sure Jongdae wasn’t there.”

“What, like, am I going crazy?”

Jongin sighs, and doesn't reply for a moment. “We'll figure it out.”

“Hey, do you two mind if I,” Luhan interrupts. “You know I'm a son of hypnos and all, and you two look an awful lot like you have some foggy memories there.”

Minseok instantly takes back his seat between Sehun and Luhan, suddenly thanking the heavens he has Luhan on his side. There's an infinitesimal bit of hope coming back to Minseok, and he sits with attentive eyes and ears as he watches Sehun's and Jongin's reactions to Luhan’s words.

“What do you mean?” questions Jongin.

“Well,” Luhan scratches the back of his head awkwardly, “you must've noticed the general weirdness of this ship.”

Sehun is sitting up almost as attentive as Minseok now. Neither of the duo reply but they're watching Luhan with a rapt attention, plates of food forgotten in front of them, a guarded frown on Jongin's face and open curiosity on Sehun's.

“You know,” Luhan elaborates with an airy motion of his hand, “things that don't make sense, missing people, foggy memories, Goiteía... Just weird.”

“Yeah,” Sehun answers, “what can you do about it though?”

“Well, I can check for the missing memories and restore them.”

“Wait, do either of you have a headache?” Minseok asks.

They both shake their heads. Minseok frowns, and slinks into his seat.

“Why?” asks Sehun.

“Never mind that for a moment,” Luhan says instead, directing their attention back on him. “I'll tell you about that after we find your missing memories.”

Sehun nods, and asks. “So how do you do this?”

“Wait, Sehun,” interrupts Jongin, his free hand, the one not holding his chopsticks, darting out to hold onto Sehun's shoulder. “How do we know to trust you?”

“Oh my god, this again,” mutters Luhan under his breath, his tone aggravated. He looks over to Minseok. “How do they know to trust me?”

Minseok sits up again. “I had missing memories too,” he explains, “Luhan helped me retrieve them.”

Jongin frowns. “How do I know to trust _you_?”

“Good question,” Minseok says, “but what could we possibly want with you? We're on a ship. That you work on. In the middle of the ocean. I've only been on here for a day and my friend is already missing, how do I know to trust you?”

Sehun nods in understanding while Jongin still looks unconvinced.

“How do you retrieve the memories?” asks Sehun before Jongin can interrupt again.

“I just need to,” Luhan answers, stretching his hand out to hover next to Sehun's temple.

“Wait!” Jongin interrupts. “What did you mean by a headache?”

“Is that important right now,” Minseok exasperatedly lets out.

“Yes,” Jongin answers flatly, stubbornly. “I can't just blindly trust you.”

“Minseok had a horrible headache that went away the moment I retrieved his memory. It's how we met in the first place,” explains Luhan instead, “I was helping him with the headache, not the memories, and those just came. So it seems his headache was a result of the lost memories.”

Jongin frowns. “Why do we not have a headache then, doesn't that mean we don't have lost memories?”

Luhan shakes his head. “It's normal to not have headaches. Minseok's case is the one that's special, though I have no idea why.”

Minseok turns to Luhan then. “Really?”

Luhan shrugs.

“Now may I?” Asks Luhan, stretching his head next to Sehun's temple again.

“Yes, please,” Sehun answers almost eagerly, leaning into Luhan's hand.

It only takes a few moment before Luhan retracts his hand again, and Minseok holds his breath in almost anxiety as the dazed look overtakes Sehun's face.

"How long has Goiteía been on the ship?" Asks Luhan, a solemn expression, similar to the one Minseok had seen when he'd recovered his memories, on his face again.

"I don't know, but she's been here longer than we have," Jongin answers, while his eyes remain on Sehun's disoriented figure in worry.

"And how long have you two been here?" Presses Luhan.

"About a year," Jongin answers, turning to Luhan. "Why?"

"Those were a lot of buried memories," explains Luhan with a heavy sigh. "He's gonna take a while to recover them all."

Minseok turns to him uneasily. "How long?"

Luhan shrugs. "A few hours, maybe days, I don't know."

Minseok drags his hands down his face, in distress. "I can't wait days to find Jongdae."

Luhan seems pensive for a moment. "I can help Jongin recover memories from today first, before recovering the older memories?" He offers, looking at Jongin in question.

Jongin seems unwilling to let Luhan anywhere near his head, wariness still written clearly over his face.

"Please, Jongin," Minseok tries, "I really need to find Jongdae."

"I promise you I'm not hurting you in any way," says Luhan, "nor am I planting memories that weren't already there."

"He's telling the truth," Sehun answers, and Minseok is almost startled at the sound of his voice. "Jongin," he stops, as though he can't quite phrase his sentences. "I still can't remember all of it, but so much makes sense now."

Jongin looks at him, a frown of worry still overtaking his face, but doesn't reply.

"Jongdae was definitely there this morning," continues Sehun. "Though I still don't remember where he went or when he disappeared." Sehun shakes his head vigorously. "It's all still so confusing. The memories keep overlapping; I feel like I woke up after a long night of dreams."

"Yeah, it's gonna take a while before it's all smooth. Though the older memories might forever be foggy," explains Luhan.

Minseok turns to Jongin again. "Will you let us recover your memories?" He asks with the calmest voice he can muster with the worry brewing so violently in his chest.

Jongin looks at Sehun a moment longer, where Minseok sees some unspoken conversation going on between them, much similar to the ones he’d seen between Jongdae and Baekhyun, before Jongin sighs. "Alright."

Luhan stretches his arm out again and rests his hand against Jongin's temple. Almost nothing more than a touch is all he needs this time too before Jongin is jerking back into his seat.

"Well?" Minseok prompts.

"Give him a moment," Luhan chides.

Minseok watches attentively as the dazed look slowly clears off Jongin's face, before he's sitting up in alarm.

"Jongdae was there," Jongin starts. "He was washing the dishes with Sehun, but then Riley came and took him."

"What do you mean took him?" Presses Minseok. "Took him where?"

"I don't know, dude," Jongin says, "she just told him to follow her, and he was following. The next thing I know, we're all back to our work like nothing happened."

"Charmspeak," Luhan fills in.

“What, I thought only Goiteía could do that!” says Minseok, in confusion.

“Apparently not,” shrugs Luhan.

"Dude, what is even happening?" Jongin questions, twisting in his seat. "What do you mean Riley could use charmspeak, she said she was a daughter of Demeter."

"She's lying, obviously," supplies Luhan.

"Do you remember anymore?" asks Minseok frantically, "anything pointing to where she might've took him?"

Jongin shook his head. "Sorry, dude."

"I remember," Sehun interrupts. Minseok immediately turns to him instead. "A week ago, someone else, Eli, disappeared. And we went looking for him."

"What are you talking about?" Jongin asks, "Eli got off the ship with Jason on our last stop."

"No, they didn't," Sehun counters. "Eli disappeared, and when we went looking for him, two girls I'd never even seen before caught us. We all got away with a simple memory wipe, but Jason disappeared too. They took him, I know."

Jongin frowns.

"Do you know where they take them?" Minseok asks.

"I know they keep them in the cargo hold," Sehun answers. "Jason figured it out when he was looking for Eli. He searched every inch of the ship, and narrowed it down to there. But we never actually got to Eli, cuz in the deeper parts of the hold where Jason was sure they kept Eli, there's at least two of them always there; whoever they are, who keep taking more of us. The mist is so thick there too, you will get lost in the maze of crates no matter how hard you try not to." Sehun shudders at the memory.

"Was I there?" Jongin asks skeptically.

Sehun nods.

"Oh," remember Luhan, stretching his arm again, "may I?"

This time, Jongin willingly lets him.

"Goiteía took the captain there too last night," recalls Minseok once Jongin is sitting back in his seat with the typical dazed look across his face. "But why would she need to keep the captain there?"

"Goiteía took the captain?!" questions Sehun, a look of alarm instantly on his face.

"I didn't see where she took him," explains Minseok, "I thought she only momentarily wanted something with him there, not actually keeping him there."

"I stayed," Luhan counters. "She definitely kept him there. I think they keep prisoners there. It's very very deep in the hold though; it would be nearly impossible to find your back from there. If you even make it there in the first place."

"And y'all are saying Jongdae is there?" Minseok asks despairingly.

"I don't know where else Riley might've took him," says Sehun, sounding sympathetic, apologetic even.

"Why did she take the captain though?" questions Jongin, coming back into the conversation. "The captain always seemed on her side, even though they fought a lot. He never stood by any of us when we point accusations at her."

"I don't know, man," Luhan replies, "that's what I saw."

"Wait, go from the beginning," says Jongin, "what exactly did you see?"

So Minseok and Luhan slowly recount again what they've seen last night, Minseok inputting that he'd snuck there while Luhan astral projected.

"Feeding on us?" Reiterates Jongin, a look of disbelief on his face, once they're done. "Even draining us? What exactly is Goiteía and her minions?"

"How many of the people on this ship are her minions?" asks Sehun instead, a similar look of distress on his face.

"Man, this is," trails off Jongin, "what the fuck..."

Luhan shakes his head in sympathy. "We'd better get off this ship as soon as we can."

"As soon as I find Jongdae," Minseok agrees. Though he feels the sense of dread grow the more he learns of the secrets of this ship. The word 'drains' rings in his head louder with each passing second.

"We need to find the captain, too," says Sehun.

Luhan frowns. "Didn't you say the captain was on her side?"

Sehun shakes his head. "I don't know why he isn't going against her when he clearly knows what she is, but we can't leave him behind. I'm sure he's not part of whatever she's planning."

Minseok frowns but shrugs. "Whatever, I just want to find Jongdae. What do we know about whatever Goiteía and her minions are?"

Luhan hums in thought before starting. "Well, Goiteía, Naomi, Riley, the two you've seen in the cargo hold, they all seem to be women, right?"

"Wait," interrupts Jongin, "how did you know about Naomi?"

"I astral projected," answers Luhan, waving his hands airily in dismissal.

"You saw Eli with Naomi?" asks Sehun.

"No, I saw Jason. He confronted Goiteía about Eli disappearing with Naomi," explains Luhan.

"That was Jason?" asks Minseok, to which Luhan merely nods.

"Jason confronted Goiteía?!" asks Jongin, in shock. "When did that happen?"

"A few days ago."

"That must be why he disappeared after," says Sehun.

"Shit, I asked Goiteía about Jongdae," remembers Minseok, "are they going to kidnap me too?"

"Told you, you shouldn't have done that!" bursts Luhan.

Minseok shakes his head. "Let's just find Jongdae, and we're getting off this ship if we have to jump into the ocean."

"Good luck with that, mate," says Jongin.

"So they all seem to be women," says Luhan, bringing them back to their original topic.

"They seem to be," Sehun furrows his brows in thought as he slowly formulates his words, "seducing those they kidnap? Eli was head over heels in love with Naomi before he disappeared, remember?"

Jongin nods eagerly in confirmation. "Before that too, Jacob seemed stricken with Olivia."

Sehun turns to Jongin with a bewildered expression on his face. "Was he? I thought he found a job and left."

"You'll remember," Jongin comforts.

"So we've got; Naomi, Goiteía, Olivia, Riley, the two mysterious women," Luhan counts, "are they all aboard the ship?"

Minseok's eyes suddenly widen. "Baekhyun hadn't stopped talking about Red Hair over there since he's seen her." He looks over to the others. "You don't think she's one of them, is she?"

Sehun furrows his brows in worry, while Jongin easily looks over his shoulder at the two.

"She might be," says Jongin when he turns back around.

"I say we trust no women for now," suggests Luhan.

"Especially the pretty ones," stresses Sehun.

"Oh my gods," says Minseok, and wastes no time in striding over to Baekhyun. “I thought she might only be distracting him at worst.”

He makes it over just as Baekhyun is leaving his seat, hand in hand with Red Hair, a soft smile on his lips and not a single worry in the world on his face. He doesn’t even notice Minseok until he calls his name to get his attention.

Baekhyun immediately scowls. “What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you, urgently,” Minseok stresses.

“Is it the same urgent as the last time?” Baekhyun rolls his eyes.

Minseok tries to hold himself back from gritting his teeth or cursing at Baekhyun with how insufferable he’s being. “No, more urgent.”

Baekhyun halts in his footsteps to the door, but doesn't let go of Red Hair’s hand. “Well, talk.”

Luhan catches up to him then, and Minseok holds himself back from punching Baekhyun by averting his gaze to Luhan instead. He finds unspoken sympathy and reflected exasperation in Luhan's eyes, and feels infinitesimally better.

“Alone, Baekhyun,” Minseok grits his teeth this time.

“I ain't got time for this,” says Baekhyun, and continues out the hall, his stride more hurried this time. Minseok can hear Red Hair giggling and quietly whispering next to him.

“I will murder him,” vents Minseok to Luhan.

“Do you need help with that?” returns Luhan.

Minseok hurries after Baekhyun instead of answering Luhan.

"Right, of course you don't have time for your friends, but you have time for a date," Minseok throws at Baekhyun once he catches up with him.

Baekhyun doesn't slow down in his footsteps, marching down the hall instead in the opposite direction of where his and Minseok's cabin is, and doesn't reply.

"Baekhyun!" Minseok calls after, and hurried to stand in front of him, blocking the way. "It's really fucking important, and I'm tired of your bullshit. Whether you like it or not, I'm not leaving except with you by my side, even if I have to force you to come along."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," answers Minseok, grabbing onto Baekhyun's free hand, "you're coming with me."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Protests Baekhyun, planting his feet in the ground and pulling his hand away from Minseok. Or trying to anyway, as Minseok has an unrelenting vice grip on his wrist.

"You fucking are!" Answers Minseok, "I can't talk here, but trust me, you need to come."

"Honestly, what could be so fucking important you can't just say it here?" Asks Baekhyun exasperatedly. "And if you say one word about a quest or a prophecy, I'm literally not even listening anymore."

"I swear to the gods, Baekhyun!" Vents Minseok, but decides to refrain from adding anymore. Not in front of Red Hair, who has so far been watching the fight quietly. He however didn’t miss the way her eyes widened at the mention of the quest. He internally winces as his fears are almost cemented.

“Just let me be!” Baekhyun tries again, uselessly, to pull his hand out of Minseok’s grip.

"You know what? Fuck it," says Minseok, letting go of Baekhyun's wrist. Baekhyun has all but a moment to look triumphant before Minseok is forcefully hauling him up over his shoulder. Baekhyun is too shocked to even react till it's too late, the world already upside down for as Minseok is already striding down the hall toward their cabin.

"What the fuck, Minseok?! Put me down!"

"Sorry, miss," Minseok throws over his shoulder at Red Hair. "I'm borrowing him for a second. Or well, a while. See you in the morning!"

"What do you mean borrowing me? Put me down, Minseok!"

Luhan falls in step with Minseok away from Red Hair who stands where they left her with a shocked expression on her face. Luhan has a laugh on his lips as he regards the thrashing Baekhyun.

"You totally deserved that," Luhan sneers at Baekhyun.

"Who the fuck even are you?!"

Luhan simply rolls his eyes at him.

"So that's where all the noise is coming from!"

Minseok turns to find Sehun and Jongin following behind.

"We thought you got into a fight or something," comments Jongin.

"Well," Minseok answers, hefting Baekhyun higher on his shoulder. "Something like that."

Minseok only lets Baekhyun down when they reach the cabin and the door is firmly closed after they all file in. Baekhyun wastes no time after Minseok gently puts him down on the bed in jumping at Minseok, hands on his shoulder and aggressively pushing him away. Minseok stumbles back a few steps but doesn't retaliate.

"What the fuck, Minseok?!"

"Jongdae is missing, Baek," explains Minseok, voice ominously quiet. "And it's not normal missing. Goiteía and her minions took him."

Baekhyun doesn't reply for a moment, but doesn't calm either, storms still raging in his expression. "What the fuck?" He questions.

"You heard what I told you about Goiteía before," Minseok explains. "While you were off 'dating', I found out that people have been constantly disappearing off the ship. Goiteía and her minions have been kidnapping passengers and crew alike."

This time, Baekhyun's expression morphs into numb shock instead, as he falls back on the bed. "What?"

Minseok starts pacing now that Baekhyun is listening. "And now they've taken Jongdae, too. Sehun and Jongin were on kitchen duty with him, and they saw one of the Goiteía's minions take him."

Baekhyun frowns at that. "Take him how?"

"Charmspeak," Minseok simply answers.

"And you're sure whoever took him really was working for Goiteía?"

"What else would it be?" Vents Minseok, exasperatedly, "why else would they wipe Sehun's and Jongin's memory of it?"

Baekhyun's eyes widen at that and he looks over to Sehun and Jongin, who'd taken seats on the bed.

"So now we really need to find Jongdae before they do something to him, or worse we reach whatever it is they're leading us to," says Minseok. "Gods, this ship is a mess."

"You didn't have to drag me away from Dru like that though to tell me all that," says Baekhyun, with a tiny voice, but with annoyance still present in it.

"Again with the date!" Minseok stops his pacing and comes to stand face to face with Baekhyun. "Your best friend is missing, Baekhyun! And all you can think about is a fucking date?!"

"Hey, c'mon now, I care about Jongdae. But you didn't take me away very nicely." Baekhyun puts his rapidly reddening face in his hands. "How will I ever face her again?"

Minseok stares at him, speechless and wide-eyed, and he seriously starts considering punching him. Before he could though, he feels arms on his shoulders, gently leading him away from Baekhyun. His intentions must've bled through to his twitching hands, he realizes, as he twists around to quietly thank Luhan.

"He's starting to sound like Eli before he disappeared," Sehun comments, eyes wide. "Dru must really be one of them."

"Huh?" Asks Baekhyun, looking up from his hands.

"Huh?" Minseok echoes. "Eli also was," he pauses, but then gestures wildly at Baekhyun, "like that?"

"Yeah," Jongin says instead. "He was also being irrational about a lot of things. He stopped listening to what any of us said, didn't even listen to Jason. Everybody listens to Jason! And he was his best friend too. Eli was generally very unlike himself." He shakes his head in disappointment. "I hope we find Jason and Eli too, while looking for Jongdae."

"I hope so, too," Sehun says.

"Huh?" Baekhyun voices again. "Who's Jason? Who's Eli? Dru is one of who?!"

"One of Goiteía and her minions," explains Luhan. "Several people on board were also seduced by one of them before they disappeared."

Baekhyun's face twists impossibly, a frown of disbelief and indignation. "That's fucking bullshit! I'm not being seduced! And Dru isn't part of Goiteía and her whatever."

Minseok very emphatically rolls his eyes. "Whatever, Baekhyun. I don't have time to prove shit to you, let's just find Jongdae."

Baekhyun huffs at that but doesn't comment, simply asking how will they find him.

"Before Jason disappeared, he figured out they, whoever and whatever they are," Luhan explains with an airy hand wave, "keep the people they take down in the cargo hold."

"Oh, weren't you there this morning, Minseok?" Baekhyun says. "You should know the way then."

Minseok shakes his head. "Not that simple. The cargo hold is literally endless, and the deeper you go, there's this foggy mist that messes with your vision."

"There's also always two of them down there to guard the prisoners," says Luhan before exclaiming, "we really should give them a name or figure out what they are, we can't keep calling them 'they'!"

"Goiteía and co.," Jongin suggests.

"Too lengthy," says Luhan.

"The pretty women who abduct innocent men," Sehun suggests.

Luhan looks at him, unimpressed.

"Whatever, we can just keep calling them 'they'," interrupts Minseok, "let's focus. I'm going to the hold now, I don't know what could happen to Jongdae if I were to wait longer."

"I'm coming, too," says Baekhyun.

Minseok looks at him in wonder for a moment, before proclaiming, "what, no date waiting for you? Or whining about not wanting to go on the quest?"

"Shut up, Minseok, he's my best friend," Baekhyun says with a scowl.

Minseok looks at him with even more wonder. "Got your head on straight finally?"

"I swear if you don't —," starts Baekhyun before Luhan interrupts him.

"Anyway!" Luhan very loudly interrupts. "You two sure that's a good idea? You _are_ going to get lost. Plus even when you reach Jongdae, how are you going to get past whoever will be waiting for you down there?"

"I just need to find my way to Jongdae. Then I can fight whoever is waiting." Minseok shakes his head in determination.

"They can use charmspeak, Minseok," points Luhan.

"I can't wait any longer to look for Jongdae," says Minseok.

Luhan sighs. "I'm coming along then. At the very least, I can put them to sleep."

"No, how about," Sehun suggests, "Luhan stays here, and astral projects. And at any sign of trouble, the two of us would follow?"

"Are you sure you would want to follow?" Minseok asks.

"Yeah, we can't let you go alone," says Jongin firmly.

"Won't I be more useful if I went?" Asks Luhan.

Sehun shakes his head. "You're the only one who can astral project. If they were taken too, we can still rely on you to know where they are. Plus you would be great for spying."

Luhan seems to consider for a moment. "I still think it'd be better if I went."

"Sehun has a point," Minseok interrupts. "We'd lose our eyes and ears if you were caught too."

"We can try being extra quiet," Baekhyun suggests, everyone immediately looking at him in almost shock, not expecting him to join in the plans. "I'm an okay archer; we can get them from afar before they notice us."

Minseok stares at Baekhyun a moment longer, before nodding firmly. "Yeah, don't worry about us."

Minseok doesn't waste much more time in planning, simply marching towards the cabin door. "Let's go then."

Baekhyun gets up easily, following after Minseok.

Minseok can hear Luhan sighing behind them before getting settled on the bed. "Just so y'all know, this is the worst idea ever," he says.

Minseok shrugs. "Don't have much of a choice." And closes the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to finish the ship arc at least before posting, but... midterms are coming up soon and i cant waste anymore time on this >.< but ill hopefully be updating as soon as im done with those! i hope you'll stick around cuz whats coming is a lot more epic.
> 
> kudos and comments are much appreciated!


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